In the Shadow of Fear: America and the World in 1950

by Nick Bunker Narrated by Rich Miller

Overview

An evocative portrait of a divided America at the dawn of the Cold War*
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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.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"A vivid look at a pivotal year at the beginning of the Cold War...Great history of a dismal period."
 —Kirkus (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)

"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, New York Times–bestselling 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

Kirkus Reviews

★ 2023-07-26
A vivid look at a pivotal year at the beginning of the Cold War.

Most readers are familiar with the circumstances surrounding Harry Truman’s spectacular election upset in 1948. Fewer recall that this momentous event was followed by four disheartening years. Bunker, the winner of the George Washington Book Prize for An Empire on the Edge, delivers a sympathetic portrait but emphasizes that Franklin Roosevelt was a hard act to follow. The author begins on Labor Day 1949. The day before, Paul Robeson, brilliant baritone and “hero of the far left,” performed for an audience of 15,000 until a mob broke it up, hurling rocks and overturning cars. The day after, a World War II veteran killed 13 people in Camden, New Jersey. Alternating between international and domestic affairs, Bunker constructs a convincing argument that 1950 was a disaster. It began as America was reeling from news that Russia had the atom bomb and that Mao’s communists had conquered China, thus making the world’s most populous nation (in the minds of many) another Soviet satellite. Six months later, North Korea invaded the South. Domestic affairs verged on the grotesque. Even before the “volatile, intemperate, and unpopular” Joseph McCarthy exploded into the headlines, it was widely accepted in the popular mind that clever communists had burrowed deep into government and schools, stealing secrets and corrupting our children. Maddened by 20 years out of power, Republicans focused narrowly on winning it back by opposing every Truman policy without exception. He desegregated the armed forces on his own authority, but Congress would not pass a broader civil rights program. “Most Republicans supported civil rights reform; but if it came to a choice between that and weakening the president, their leadership would opt for the latter,” writes Bunker. 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.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940178194324
Publisher:	Hachette Audio
Publication date:	10/03/2023
Edition description:	Unabridged

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