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America and the World in 1950
by Nick Bunker
An evocative portrait of a divided America at the dawn of the Cold War.
Halfway through the twentieth century, the United States towered over the world in industrial might. After winning the 1948 election, Harry Truman hoped to use this economic strength to build on FDR's achievements with new liberal reforms. But then, in just ten months between September 1949 and June 1950, the president's ambitions were overtaken by events that left the country gripped by rage and fear. The Soviets tested an atomic bomb, Mao's army swept through China, and at home Truman faced labor unrest and a Republican Party desperate for power.
In the Shadow of Fear is an innovative and gripping history of this pivotal moment. Recounting the launch of Senator Joe McCarthy's anti-communist crusade, the defeat of Truman's liberal program, and the start of the Korean War, prizewinning historian Nick Bunker shows us a polarized nation facing crises at home and abroad—a story with deep resonances today.
"A vivid look at a pivotal year at the beginning of the Cold War...Bunker...delivers a sympathetic portrait [of Truman] but emphasizes that Franklin Roosevelt was a hard act to follow...Despite his admiration, the author, a diligent, evenhanded writer, notes that Truman lost his political prowess after 1948, and he and his party failed to pass the reforms of his vaunted 'Fair Deal'...Great history of a dismal period." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Based on extensive primary research, this highly readable account highlights these critical months when the U.S. enjoyed its prosperity, and part of the world descended into violence. An important read for those interested in postwar American history, both domestic and abroad." —Library Journal (starred review)
"Historian Bunker asserts, in this innovative account of the Truman presidency, that September 1949 to June 1950 was a period of immense upheaval and a turning point in American history...[He] persuasively makes the case that this tumultuous period birthed the Cold War's pervasive mood of 'bitterness, distrust, intolerance, and fear.' It's an illuminating take on 20th-century American history." —Publishers Weekly
"Only in 1950 did the 1930s reach their true conclusion," argues Nick Bunker in In the Shadow of Fear, his account of a divisive era that rhymes eerily with our own. Bunker charts the months leading up to the Cold War not only through political players but by way of thinkers, films, literature, and feats of industry, pausing his narrative for periodic trips around the globe. He writes always with a keen eye and a graceful pen; this is the rich, original, and immersive story of America at a crossroads." —Stacy Schiff, author of The Revolutionary
"A brilliant book, immersing us in the world of the year 1950, when the so-called 'wise men' who were then constructing the America-dominated post‒World War II era were confused fools stumbling in the dark, terrified." —J. Bradford DeLong, New York Times–bestselling author of Slouching Towards Utopia
"A page-turning narrative, Nick Bunker's In the Shadow of Fear tells the story of America at the peak of its power and yet insecure. With his genius for the telling detail, his insight into personality, and his grasp of the arc of history, Bunker again proves himself a master storyteller." —Frank Costigliola, author of Kennan: A Life between Worlds
This information about In the Shadow of Fear was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Nick Bunker won the 2015 George Washington Book Prize with An Empire on the Edge, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for History. His other books include Making Haste from Babylon, which was long listed for the UK's Samuel Johnson Prize, and Young Benjamin Franklin.
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