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The Imaginary War: Civil Defense and American Cold War Culture
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The Imaginary War: Civil Defense and American Cold War Culture Hardcover - 1995

by Oakes, Guy

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  • Hardcover

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Oxford University Press, 1995-01-05. Hardcover. New. New. In shrink wrap. Looks like an interesting title!
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Details

  • Title The Imaginary War: Civil Defense and American Cold War Culture
  • Author Oakes, Guy
  • Binding Hardcover
  • Edition First Edition
  • Condition New
  • Pages 208
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Oxford University Press, Cary, North Carolina, U.S.A.
  • Date 1995-01-05
  • Bookseller's Inventory # Q-0195090276
  • ISBN 9780195090277 / 0195090276
  • Weight 0.88 lbs (0.40 kg)
  • Dimensions 9.59 x 6.35 x 0.77 in (24.36 x 16.13 x 1.96 cm)
  • Reading level 1440
  • Themes
    • Chronological Period: 1940's
    • Chronological Period: 20th Century
    • Chronological Period: 1950-1999
  • Library of Congress subjects United States - Military policy, Cold War
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 93046098
  • Dewey Decimal Code 363.350

From the rear cover

"Duck and cover" are unforgettable words for a generation of Americans who listened throughout the Cold War to the unescapable propaganda of civil defense. Yet it would have been impossible to protect Americans from a real nuclear attack and, as Guy Oakes shows in The Imaginary War, national security officials knew it. Oakes contends that the real purpose of 1950s civil defense programs was not to protect Americans from the bomb, but to ingrain in them the moral resolve needed to face the hazards of the Cold War. Uncovering the links between national security, civil defense, and civic ethics, Oakes reveals three sides to the civil defense program: a system of emotional management designed to control fear; the fictional construction of a manageable world of nuclear attack; and the production of a Cold War ethic rooted in the mythology of the home, the ultimate sanctuary of American values. This fascinating analysis of the culture of civil defense is a strong indictment of the official mythmaking of the Cold War. It will be essential reading for all those interested in American history, politics, and cultural studies.

About the author

Guy Oakes is Professor of Philosophy and Social Policy at Monmouth College and author of Weber and Rickert (1988).