The 1950s: Key Themes and Documents

This volume serves as an invaluable guide to key political, social, and cultural concepts of the 1950s.

This volume covers the entire decade of the 1950s, from the uneasy peace following World War II to the beginnings of cultural discontent that would explode in the 1960s. It highlights key historical, social, and cultural elements of the period, including the Cold War and perceived communist threat; the birth of the middle class and establishment of consumer culture; the emergence of the ci...