In the Shadow of Fear
America and the World in 1950
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- $19.99
Publisher Description
An evocative portrait of a divided America at the dawn of the Cold War
Halfway through the twentieth century, the United States towered over the world in industrial might. After winning the 1948 election, Harry Truman hoped to use this economic strength to build on FDR’s achievements with new liberal reforms. But then, in just ten months between September 1949 and June 1950, the president’s ambitions were overtaken by events that left the country gripped by rage and fear. The Soviets tested an atomic bomb, Mao’s army swept through China, and at home Truman faced labor unrest and a Republican Party desperate for power.
In the Shadow of Fear is an innovative and gripping history of this pivotal moment. Recounting the launch of Senator Joe McCarthy’s anti-communist crusade, the defeat of Truman’s liberal program, and the start of the Korean War, prizewinning historian Nick Bunker shows us a polarized nation facing crises at home and abroad—a story with deep resonances today.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Historian Bunker (An Empire on the Edge) asserts, in this innovative account of the Truman presidency, that September 1949 to June 1950 was a period of immense upheaval and a turning point in American history. In foreign affairs, Bunker cites such landmark events as Russia's first test of an atomic bomb, the establishment of NATO, Mao's conquest of China, and the outbreak of the Korean War. On the domestic front, he surveys the development of the hydrogen bomb, the rise of rabid anti-communism led by Senator Joseph McCarthy and his fellow Republicans, and the rapid spread of new technologies (televisions, automatic transmission Chevrolets). According to Bunker, President Truman had grown out of touch with a quickly changing culture, leaving him unprepared for these disruptions, which interfered with his plans to expand on FDR's New Deal programs. Detailing the coal miners unions' intensifying battle with the federal government, Secretary of State Dean Acheson's struggle to get a handle on fast-moving developments abroad, and other matters, Bunker persuasively makes the case that this tumultuous period birthed the Cold War's pervasive mood of "bitterness, distrust, intolerance, and fear." It's an illuminating take on 20th-century American history.
