In 1955, the United States Information Agency published a lavishly illustrated booklet called My America. Assembled ostensibly to document "the basic elements of a free dynamic society," the booklet emphasized cultural diversity, political freedom, and social mobility and made no mention of McCarthyism or the Cold War. Though hyperbolic, My America was, as Laura A. Belmonte shows, merely one of hundreds of pamphlets from this era written and distributed in an organized attempt to forge a collective defense of the "American way of life."
Selling the American Way examines the context, content, and reception of U.S. propaganda during the early Cold War. Determined to protect democratic capitalism and undercut communism, U.S. information experts defined the national interest not only in geopolitical, economic, and military terms. Through radio shows, films, and publications, they also propagated a carefully constructed cultural narrative of freedom, progress, and abundance as a means of protecting national security. Not simply a one-way look at propaganda as it is produced, the book is a subtle investigation of how U.S. propaganda was received abroad and at home and how criticism of it by Congress and successive presidential administrations contributed to its modification.
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Editorial Reviews
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"Well researched and clearly written, Selling the American Way is a welcome addition to a fast-growing body of literature on propaganda and the 'cultural Cold War.'"—Journal of American History
"Belmonte has produced an invaluable contribution that should be examined by everyone interested in understanding public diplomacy and in building an effective public diplomacy campaign."—American Historical Review
About the Author
Laura A. Belmonte is Associate Professor of History at Oklahoma State University.
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2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
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What role international perceptions of democratic capitalism had in the collapse of communism,
By ROROTOKO (rorotoko dot com) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Selling the American Way: U.S. Propaganda and the Cold War (Hardcover)
"Selling the American Way" is on the ROROTOKO list of cutting-edge intellectual nonfiction. Professor Belmonte's book interview ran here as cover feature on April 14, 2009.
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Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Inside This Book
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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs):
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defining democracy, postwar information program, information strategists, information leaders Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
United States, State Department, Soviet Union, Cold War, Voice of America, African Americans, Iron Curtain, People's Capitalism, Eastern Europe, Little Rock, World War, Middle East, Wall Street, New York, National Archives, Advancing American Art, Eisenhower Years, House Appropriations Committee, United Nations, Selling Capitalism, Latin America, Know North America, Truman Years, Senator Joseph, Radio Free Europe Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
defining democracy, postwar information program, information strategists, information leaders Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
United States, State Department, Soviet Union, Cold War, Voice of America, African Americans, Iron Curtain, People's Capitalism, Eastern Europe, Little Rock, World War, Middle East, Wall Street, New York, National Archives, Advancing American Art, Eisenhower Years, House Appropriations Committee, United Nations, Selling Capitalism, Latin America, Know North America, Truman Years, Senator Joseph, Radio Free Europe Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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