Grand Illusion: Critics and Champions of the American Century [Hardcover]

John B. Judis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1992

Focusing on the "American Century," the author explores the myths and realities of American power and discusses the role of the nation as a new century dawns. By the author of William F. Buckley, Jr.: Patron Saint of the Conservatives.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The author blasts George Bush for what he sees as the president's neglect of the domestic economy, shallow internationalism and blind laissez-faire faith in the marketplace. A contributing editor to the New Republic and biographer of William F. Buckley Jr., Judis depicts Bush's conservatism as a continuation of Ronald Reagan's disastrous attempt to restore the "American Century," an era of U.S. global domination posited by Time magazine's Henry Luce in 1941. This penetrating study seeks ideas that could help reverse America's economic decline in the thinking of progressives and liberals like Herbert Croly, founder of the New Republic and adviser to Woodrow Wilson; Henry Wallace, FDR's secretary of agriculture, who proposed national economic planning; and Walter Lippmann, who urged that a postwar peace be based on a nuclear alliance among the superpowers. Judis also presents an evenhanded critique of such Cold Warriors as Henry Kissinger, Richard Nixon, Whittaker Chambers, James Burnham, Barry Goldwater and George Kennan, along with a slashing appraisal of Lee Iacocca's performance as Chrysler chairman.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Recently, numerous analysts have debated the causes, effects, and actual status of America's apparent decline from international preeminence. Judis, a contributing editor at The New Republic and author of William F. Buckley Jr: Patron Saint of the Conservatives ( LJ 6/1/88), instead introduces general readers to the philosophers and politicians who debated the direction of U.S. domestic and foreign policies during the ascendancy Henry Luce christened the "American Century." Judis's remarkable text seeks to stir memories of and affection for the "words and deeds" of those he describes as domestic policy progressives and foreign policy realists (e.g., Henry Croly, the Roosevelts, Henry Wallace, and Walter Lippman) and away from the thinking of such laissez-faire conservatives as James Burnham, Ronald Reagan, and George Bush. A timely tour of the American political debate for both lay readers and scholars.
- James R. Kuhlman, Univ. of Georgia Lib., Athens
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 344 pages
• Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux (T); 1st edition (August 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374165947
• ISBN-13: 978-0374165949
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,294,883 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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