In "The Establishment", Howard Fast pulls the listener into the turbulent and passionate lives of the Dan Lavette family story begun in "The Immigrants" and continued in "Second Generation".

Howard Fast again brings to life a cast of characters whose lives become a portrait of their time. Listeners will witness the events in the lives of the children of Dan Lavette: Follow daughter Barbara Lavette, a strong and magnetic personality, from tragedy to final fulfillment; observe the elder son, Tom, as he quests for and finally succumbs to his own unscrupulous drive for power; and feel the conflict as the younger son, Joe, struggles between dedication to his medical work to the poor and having no emotional strength left for his beautiful wife left alone.