Little 'Red Scares'


Book Description

Anti-communism has long been a potent force in American politics, capable of gripping both government and popular attention. Nowhere is this more evident that the two great 'red scares' of 1919-20 and 1946-54; the latter generally - if somewhat inaccurately - termed McCarthyism. The interlude between these two major scares has tended to garner less attention, but as this volume makes clear, the lingering effects of 1919-20 and the gathering storm-clouds of 'McCarthyism' were clearly visible throughout the 20s and 30s, even if in a more low-key way. Indeed, the period between the two great red scares was marked by frequent instances of political repression, often justified on anti-communist grounds, at local, state and federal levels. Yet these events have been curiously neglected in the history of American political repression and anti-communism, perhaps because much of the material deals with events scattered in time and space which never reached the intensity of the two great scares. By focusing on this twenty-five year 'interim' period, the essays in this collection bridge the gap between the two high-profile 'red scares' thus offering a much more contextualised and fluid narrative for American anti-communism. In so doing the rationale and motivations for the 'red scares' can be seen as part of an evolving political landscape, rather than as isolated bouts of hysteria exploding onto - and then vanishing from - the political scene. Instead, a much more nuanced appreciation of the conflicting interests and fears of government, politicians, organised labour, free-speech advocates, employers, and the press is offered, which will be of interest to anyone wishing to better understand the political history of modern America.




Brotherhood of the Bomb


Book Description

Gregg Herken's Brotherhood of the Bomb is the fascinating story of the men who founded the nuclear age, fully told for the first time The story of the twentieth century is largely the story of the power of science and technology. Within that story is the incredible tale of the human conflict between Robert Oppenheimer, Ernest Lawrence, and Edward Teller-the scientists most responsible for the advent of weapons of mass destruction. How did science-and its practitioners-enlisted in the service of the state during the Second World War, become a slave to its patron during the Cold War? The story of these three men, builders of the bombs, is fundamentally about loyalty-to country, to science, and to each other-and about the wrenching choices that had to be made when these allegiances came into conflict. Gregg Herken gives us the behind-the-scenes account based upon a decade of research, interviews, and newly released Freedom of Information Act and Russian documents. Brotherhood of the Bomb is a vital slice of American history told authoritatively-and grippingly-for the first time.







Proud to Be an Okie


Book Description

Proud to Be an Okie brings to life the influential country music scene that flourished in and around Los Angeles from the Dust Bowl migration of the 1930s to the early 1970s. The first work to fully illuminate the political and cultural aspects of this intriguing story, the book takes us from Woody Guthrie's radical hillbilly show on Depression-era radio to Merle Haggard's "Okie from Muskogee" in the late 1960s. It explores how these migrant musicians and their audiences came to gain a sense of identity through music and mass media, to embrace the New Deal, and to celebrate African American and Mexican American musical influences before turning toward a more conservative outlook. What emerges is a clear picture of how important Southern California was to country music and how country music helped shape the politics and culture of Southern California and of the nation.




The Contender


Book Description

Cover -- Half Title -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Preface to the Paperback Edition -- Acknowledgments -- Preface -- 1 The Prerequisites for a Congressional Candidate -- 2 Nixon's First Primary -- 3 Nixon Versus Voorhis -- 4 Learning the Congressional Routine -- 5 Nixon and HUAC -- 6 The Herter Committee -- 7 Sharpening Foreign and Domestic Priorities -- 8 Running for Reelection -- 9 Moving Onto the National Stage -- 10 Nixon: Chambers Versus Hiss -- 11 The Pumpkin, Father Cronin, the FBI, and Duggan -- 12 Nixon, Communism, and the Truman Triumph -- 13 Stepping Sideways to Move Up -- 14 The 1950 Primary -- 15 Douglas Versus Nixon: The Issues -- 16 Fifty-one Days in the Fall: Nixon Versus Douglas-Reality and Legend -- 17 Communism and Korea -- 18 Corruption in the Highest Places -- 19 "Electability" and Other Issues -- 20 The 1952 Convention -- Epilogue: Nixon and His Detractors-Whom Should We Believe? -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Glossary of Characters -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- Q -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Y -- Z




A Cultural History of Jews in California


Book Description

With this volume of the Casden Annual Review, we continue our policy of focusing on a single topic, and in this case the topic we have turned to is, quite literally, close to home: the Jewish role in California life. The aim of this volume is to stress the cultural aspects of the Jewish experience of coming to and living in the Golden State. While we cannot hope to present in this limited venue a comprehensive and detailed history of Jews in California, per se, it is our goal to consider a number of insightful perspectives on how the Jews, who settled in California, helped shape the Golden State's culture and were, in turn, themselves molded by cultural influences that were uniquely Californian. While this volume looks at the Jewish experience in California in general-nonetheless, particular emphasis is placed on Southern California. We begin our cultural history at a crucial moment in California history, the mid-nineteenth century in the after-glow of the California Gold Rush, where we encounter a European Jewish emigrant, fresh off the boat, who can (and did) get a chance to make a fortune in the pueblo of Los Angeles and, in doing so, helped define what California is. We conclude it with a personal, meditation from one of the latest group of refugees to come to the west, the Iranian Jews who were forced out of their ancient homeland some thirty years ago and who found in Southern California a particularly hospitable (yet no less difficult) place to transplant their cultural roots. In between, we are treated to a few choice snapshots of how life developed and changed for Jews in California as California itself evolved and grew. We firmly believe that there is something special about the Jewish role in California and even more so in Southern California-that here on the lower left-coast Jews have had an Americanization experience that is significantly different from that which Jews have had elsewhere in the USA. Conversely, Southern California would be quite a different place without the Jews who made it their home. Book jacket.




American Film History


Book Description

This authoritative collection of introductory and specialized readings explores the rich and innovative history of this period in American cinema. Spanning an essential range of subjects from the early 1900s Nickelodeon to the decline of the studio system in the 1960s, it combines a broad historical context with careful readings of individual films. Charts the rise of film in early twentieth-century America from its origins to 1960, exploring mainstream trends and developments, along with topics often relegated to the margins of standard film histories Covers diverse issues ranging from silent film and its iconic figures such as Charlie Chaplin, to the coming of sound and the rise of film genres, studio moguls, and, later, the Production Code and Cold War Blacklist Designed with both students and scholars in mind: each section opens with an historical overview and includes chapters that provide close, careful readings of individual films clustered around specific topics Accessibly structured by historical period, offering valuable cultural, social, and political contexts Contains careful, close analysis of key filmmakers and films from the era including D.W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Erich von Stroheim, Cecil B. DeMille, Don Juan, The Jazz Singer, I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, Scarface, Red Dust, Glorifying the American Girl, Meet Me in St. Louis, Citizen Kane, Bambi, Frank Capra's Why We Fightseries, The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, Rebel Without a Cause, Force of Evil, and selected American avant-garde and underground films, among many others. Additional online resources such as sample syllabi, which include suggested readings and filmographies for both general specialized courses, will be available online. May be used alongside American Film History: Selected Readings, 1960 to the Present, to provide an authoritative study of American cinema through the new millennium




Communism in the World Since 1945


Book Description




The Suppression of Salt of the Earth


Book Description

Examines the conception, production, distribution, and suppression of the pioneering labor-feminist film made during the virulently anti-communist era of the Cold War.