…a timely…provocative [book]. In addition to offering some historical perspective, Churchwell has a point to make. "America first" might never shed the stain of virulent racism and anti-Semitism, but the American dream, she suggests, has a real and discernible meaning located in its origins, one that gives "voice to principled appeals for a more generous way of life"…[Churchwell's] an elegant writer, and when "America First" and "the American dream" come head-to-head in her book during the run-up to World War II, the unexpected (and alarming) historical coincidences begin to resonate like demented wind chimes…Behold, America illuminates how much history takes place in the gap between what people say and what they do.
The New York Times - Jennifer Szalai
★ 08/27/2018
"This is a timely book. It's also a provocative one... [Churchwell is] an elegant writer, and when 'America First'and 'the American dream'come head-to-head in her book during the run-up to World War II, the unexpected (and alarming) historical coincidences begin to resonate like demented wind chimes... Behold, America illuminates how much history takes place in the gap between what people say and what they do."—New York Times New York Magazine The Nation Financial Times Behold, America is an enthralling book, almost a primer for the ferocious dialectic of US politics, inspired by the events of 2015/16. It will no doubt take an influential place on a teeming shelf of Trump-lit. Much of its force derives from the echoes of the present it finds in the thunderous caverns of the past, blurred by the distortions of history. Passionate, well-researched and comprehensive, it is both a document of our times and a thrilling survey of a half-forgotten and neglected dimension of the American story."—Guardian (US edition) Simon Winchester , New Statesman Eric Rauchway, Times Literary Supplement (UK) Behold, America is enormously entertaining. Churchwell is a careful and sensitive reader, writes with great vigour and has a magpie's eye for a revealing story."—Dominic Sandbrook , Sunday Times Independent Economist Publishers Weekly, starred review Behold, America . It lets us know where we are, and where America is right now, and exactly what kind of fascism is being sold to people all over again right now, and it does it with a combination of intelligence, grace, articulacy and clarity that gives off pure relief."—Ali Smith , The Big Issue (UK) Behold, America , like so much of the best historical enquiry, is rooted in an acute sensitivity to language. Chruchwell's primary concern is to unpack, from a trawl of the press, political speeches and literary works, what early 20th-century Americans meant by the common expressions 'America first' and 'the American Dream.' But the book is much more than a study of these catchphrases, and she deftly relates them to wider social, political and cultural developments."—Colin Kidd , Guardian (UK) Prospect (UK) Literary Review (UK) Nancy MacLean, author of Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America Behold, America is a vital and unflinching look at our country's inherent contradictions that have hampered our aspirations since its founding. Bold, fearless, and above all beautifully written, this book is a must-read for anyone looking to understand our past, present, and future."—Jared Yates Sexton, author of The People Are Going to Rise Like the Waters Upon Your Shore
2018-08-13
Investigating two ubiquitous yet murky expressions—"America First" and the "American Dream"—through "a genealogy of national debates" that surround them.
Churchwell (American Literature /Univ. of London; Careless People: Murder, Mayhem, and the Invention of The Great Gatsby, 2013, etc.) introduces these ill-defined concepts and then uses broad historical research to demonstrate their intersections during portions of the last three centuries. Although the detailed narrative ends in 1941, the author offers an epilogue covering the years 1945 to 2017, mostly focused on Donald Trump and his associates. Churchwell demonstrates that when the concepts of the American dream and "America First" arose in the culture and the language of the U.S., those terms tended to signify the opposites of their meanings today. At any given moment, each term has been linked, for better or worse, to the American concepts of democracy, capitalism, and racial equality—or inequality, as the case may be. Churchwell acknowledges her preferred definitions, but she mostly avoids moral judgments in favor of pointing out shifting historical trends. So when Trump (or others) talk about "America First" or the American dream, their crabbed definitions may have different connotations than in previous decades. For example, "America First" has, at times, suggested isolationism from the remainder of the world, especially leading up to the world wars. At other times, it has suggested unthinking patriotism or even implied racism due to the desire for a whiter population. As for the American dream, Churchwell shows persuasively that, initially, it signified opposing the accumulation of wealth by capitalists, since business moguls rarely cared about the well-being of society as a whole. In 2018, however, it seems many Americans aspire to unabashed self-enrichment.
Churchwell demonstrates a lively intellect, as she exhibited early in her publishing career with The Many Lives of Marilyn Monroe (2004). The only weakness of this book, which provides much food for thought, stems from generalizations about the way "most Americans" define the two key concepts. That knowledge is, of course, ultimately unknowable.
Anne Twomey’s narration effortlessly knits the twin threads—America First and the American Dream—that animate this history. She adroitly shares the despicable actions of the KKK and the terrible stories of lynchings and horrific crowd behavior. The listener is reminded that America First, despite its attracting well-known Americans, was often used as a cover for racism and anti-Semitism. Author Churchwell also examines the development of the term “the American dream,” exploring its original meaning of equality of opportunity and describing how it has turned into a synonym for material wealth. There are villains—Charles Lindbergh, Father Coughlin—and heroes, too. Writers Walter Lippmann and Dorothy Thompson both warned fellow citizens in the 1930s about fascism and decried America First. A.D.M. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
FEBRUARY 2019 - AudioFile
Anne Twomey’s narration effortlessly knits the twin threads—America First and the American Dream—that animate this history. She adroitly shares the despicable actions of the KKK and the terrible stories of lynchings and horrific crowd behavior. The listener is reminded that America First, despite its attracting well-known Americans, was often used as a cover for racism and anti-Semitism. Author Churchwell also examines the development of the term “the American dream,” exploring its original meaning of equality of opportunity and describing how it has turned into a synonym for material wealth. There are villains—Charles Lindbergh, Father Coughlin—and heroes, too. Writers Walter Lippmann and Dorothy Thompson both warned fellow citizens in the 1930s about fascism and decried America First. A.D.M. © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
FEBRUARY 2019 - AudioFile
