"At the midpoint of the twentieth century, Sir Winston Churchill called the United States "this gigantic capitalist organization, with its vast and superabundant productive power." The dollar reigned supreme and Pittsburgh and Detroit were at the summit of their power and prestige. From Washington, American statesmen sought to guide the destiny of nations. Victorious in the elections of 1948, Harry Truman and the leaders of the Democratic Party hoped...

In a reinterpretation of the postwar years, historian Robert Dallek examines what drove the leaders of the most powerful nations around the globe--Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin, Mao, de Gaulle, and Truman--to rely on traditional power politics despite the catastrophic violence their nations had endured. The decisions of these men, for better and often for worse, had profound consequences for decades to come, influencing relations and conflicts with...

A DRAMATIC AND REVEALING ACCOUNT, FROM INSIDE THE GOVERNMENT, OF THE MOMENTOUS DAYS IN WHICH AMERICA ASSUMED THE RESPONSIBILITY OF WORLD LEADERSHIP. First published in 1955, Joseph M. Jones' memoirs The Fifteen Weeks chronicle his role in the development of the Truman Doctrine and the Marshall Plan. The fifteen weeks which form the title and subject of this book comprise the period in 1947 when the United States stepped out irrevocably and wholeheartedly...

The eminent political activist examines the principles and strategies of imperial violence and propaganda from American colonization to the modern day. In this incisive study, Noam Chomsky demonstrates that "the great work of subjugation and conquest" has changed little over the years. Analyzing American policy and its consequences in Haiti, Latin America, Cuba, Indonesia, and even areas of the Third World developing in the United States, Chomsky...

Politicians of every stripe frequently invoke the Marshall Plan in support of programs aimed at using American wealth to extend the nation's power and influence, solve intractable third-world economic problems, and combat world hunger and disease. Do any of these impassioned advocates understand why the Marshall Plan succeeded where so many subsequent aid plans have not? Historian Nicolaus Mills explores the Marshall Plan in all its dimensions to...

Thomas Paterson offers a thorough review of post-war American attitudes towards totalitarianism, the causes of international conflict and foreign aid. He demonstrates how Truman acted upon these views, launched the containment doctrine and exercized American power both in Europe and Asia. A fresh look at Eisenhower's policy in the Middle East explains how the USA became a major player in that volatile region. He also presents a critique of Kennedy's...

With the use of newly opened archives, "Red Cloud at Dawn" focuses on the extraordinary story of First Lightning--the first Soviet test bomb detonated in 1949--to provide a fresh understanding of the origins of the nuclear arms race, as well as the all-too-urgent problem of proliferation.