Books
William O'Neill, American High: The Years
of Confidence, 1945-1960
This survey of the social and political history of the
postwar period rebuts many common assumptions about the
1950s.
David Halberstam, The Fifties
A panoramic view of the 1950s by a leading journalist,
which contains vivid sketches of Dwight D. Eisenhower,
John Foster Dulles, Martin Luther King, Jr., Joseph McCarthy,
Ray Krok, U-2 pilot Frances Gary Powers, Charles Van Doren,
and many others.
Films
On the Waterfront
This story of an ex-prize fighter who wrestles with a
decision about whether to inform about mob corruption
on the New York waterfront can be interpreted as director
Elia Kazan's defense of his decision to name names before
the House Un-American Activities Committee.
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
This science fiction films deals metaphorically with issues
of infiltration and mind control raised by the Cold War,
as well as with issues of conformity in a mass society.
Web Sites
Recommended Web Site:
CNN: The Cold War
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cold.war/
This website contains transcripts of the documentary's
episodes supplemented with primary source documents, rare
archival footage, and interviews with leading figures
during the Cold War.
Related Web Sites:
Postwar America
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The Interstate Highway
System and Car Culture
http://www2.kenyon.edu/Depts/IPHS/Projects/Howl/interstate.htm
A history of the Interstate Highway System during
the 1950s that includes subsections on government
policy, billboards, motels, diners, Levittown, and
gas stations.
Levittown: Documents of an Ideal American
Suburb
http://www.uic.edu/~pbhales/Levittown/
This project includes photographs made by residents
and visitors since the late '40s, written reminiscences
and texts, and essays, but only a portion of the
material is currently available on the Internet.
Literature and Culture of the American 1950s
http://www.english.upenn.edu/~afilreis/50s/home.html
Extensive primary and secondary source readings
on such aspects of life and culture in Cold War America
as art, foreign policy, gender, jazz, the movies,
and rock ‘n’ roll, as well as biographical material
on major and minor figures of the era.
Truman Presidential Museum & Library
http://www.trumanlibrary.org
A searchable collection of images and documents
from the Harry S. Truman Presidential Library, this
site contains personal letters, speeches, photographs,
political cartoons, and official documents relating
to The Decision to Drop the Atomic Bomb, the recognition
of Israel, the Marshall Plan, the Truman Doctrine,
the desegregation of the Armed Forces, the 1948
Campaign, the Berlin Airlift, NATO, and the Korean
War.
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Cold War
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Library of Congress’s Soviet Archives Exhibit
http://metalab.unc.edu/expo/soviet.exhibit/entrance.html#tour
Documents and translations from the Soviet Archives
reveal the inner workings of the Soviet system
and Soviet-U.S. relations during the Cold War.
The Marshall Plan
http://lcweb.loc.gov/exhibits/marshall/
This online Library of Congress exhibit provides
primary sources, a time line and map, and various
assessments, pro- and con-, of the Marshall Plan,
on its fiftieth anniversary.
The National Security Archives at George
Washington University
http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/
The archive publishes declassified foreign policy
documents obtained through the Freedom of Information
Act, including material on Cuba, Guatemala, Iran,
and the Soviet Union.
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