The Cold War and the University is a groundbreaking collection of newly commissioned essays on the changes in intellectual life and the nature of the university in America during the Cold War era. In it, distinguished contributors show the many ways existing disciplines, such as political science and anthropology, were affected by the Cold War ethos; they discuss the rise of new fields, such as area studies; and they explore the changing nature of dissent and academic freedom during the Cold War.
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Those already inclined to regard the government as deceitful, oppressive and imperialist will be further convinced by this book. To most people, however, it will appear unfortunately slanted and dated. The overt purpose of the collection is to assemble writings by American scholars on how the Cold War affected the academy, but as often as not the real agenda would seem the condemnation of almost all government action of the period. Montgomery strikes this note in his introduction, which he begins with censorship of broadcasts by Los Alamos scientists being censored in May 1946. There are plenty of interesting essays to be written about the purported topic without dragging tangential subjects in kicking and screaming: corporate power versus the UAW and CIO, racial violence in the military and genocide against the Indians-"the original sin of American culture," says Noam Chomsky. In more germane (if equally skewed) essays, R.C. Lewontin describes how research agendas of universities were shaped by communist witch hunts while Richard Ohmann writes of secret inducements in English departments to follow a Cold War blueprint. In short, the scholarship is embarrassingly selective, and designed not to inform but to indict.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
New Press editor Andre Schiffrin, who has suggested topics for many of Studs Terkel's lively oral histories, expected more traditional history and less "oral" recollection when he imagined collecting studies of the cold war's impact on U.S. intellectual life, particularly at U.S. universities, but once past the McCarthy era, he found little useful work done. After sponsoring university discussions, the publisher plans a series of essay collections on aspects of this important subject. The series' first entry is a mix of documentary investigations and personal memoirs. Most authors examine the cold war's effects within specific disciplines: Howard Zinn on history; Richard Ohmann on English literature; Laura Nader on anthropology; Ray Siever on earth science; Immanuel Wallerstein on area studies; and Ira Katznelson on political science. Noam Chomsky and R. C. Lewontin provide more general comments on academia's response to cold war growth, funding, and challenges to traditional principles. Not an essential acquisition, but likely to circulate to readers drawn by the subject or the volume's contributors. Mary Carroll
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A very important compilation,
This review is from: The Cold War & the University: Toward an Intellectual History of the Postwar Years (Paperback)
Viewing a political era from a particular point of view, from a subjective perspective can often manage to shed light on much more. The experiences reported by the individuals in this book are extremely well written stories that transcend the bounds of what at first seems a narrow topic. Still, if you have a particular interest in education and the politics of universities and colleges, you will find this book even more intriguing.
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A valuable contribution to the history of the cold war,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Cold War & the University: Toward an Intellectual History of the Postwar Years (Hardcover)
A fine collection of essays, particularly those of Howard Zinn, R.C. Lewontin, and Noam Chomsky. The introduction by David Montgomery is also quite good, mixing, as many of the essays do, personal recollections of working in the university system, with historical research.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Correction,
By
This review is from: The Cold War & the University: Toward an Intellectual History of the Postwar Years (Paperback)
Just a note on the review by the reader from New York posted on May 5, 1999: Laura Nader's mention of Eric Wolf's stealing documents was in fact a misprint inserted by an editor. It's a long story, but I'm fairly certain of its validity. I've taken classes with her at UC Berkeley and in a discussion of the book she went out of her way to point out the error. Understandibly, she was quite upset.
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