The American Century (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780300078787)

Why did the United States assume a preeminent world role after World War II, and why has that role declined since the Vietnam War? This magisterial book--the first intellectual and cultural history of America's evolving status as a world power in the twentieth century--addresses these questions by examining Americans' perceptions of themselves and of the world during this period.

Drawing on the writings of leading intellectuals, speeches by politicians, popular periodicals, movies and television, opinion polls, and dozens of other sources, Donald W. White explores what Americans thought about power in the twentieth century, how they evaluated America's expanding world role and the confrontations of the Cold War, and how they perceived the erosion of this unprecedented accumulation of power in the years after the Vietnam War. With colorful anecdotal detail, White presents a new perspective on foreign affairs during these years, recounting the global spread of American democratic philosophy, technology, industrial goods, literature, arts, and way of life against a backdrop of military crises and diplomatic negotiations. In the process he identifies major trends in past American foreign policy and suggests possibilities for the prospects of international relations in the future.

Author: Donald W. White
ISBN-10: 0300078781
ISBN-13: 9780300078787
Publisher: Yale University Press
Language: English
Published: 04/10/1999
Pages: 576
Format: Paperback
Weight: 1.94lbs
Size: 8.89h x 5.84w x 1.43d

Review Citation(s):
New York Times 08/22/1999 pg. 28