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Book Review
Comparative/World
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Christopher Endy
. Cold War Holidays: American Tourism in France. (The New
Cold War History.) Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
2004. Pp. xii, 286. Cloth $49.95, paper $19.95.
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| Tourism is mostly about leisure, fun, and self-improvement. It can also have deeper motives and, more or less inadvertently, a political dimension. Following a trend in Cold War history that highlights the importance of culture and soft power, Christopher Endy's book offers a new perspective on U.S.-French relations between 1945 and 1970, persuasively arguing that leisure travel was an important foreign policy instrument for both the American and the French governments. Some readers may consider this issue peripheral, while most will likely find answers to some core questions on U.S.-European relations. Most important, in revealing the connections among travel, consumerism, and Cold War policies, Endy stresses the coexistence, interplay, and even mutual reinforcement between transnational forces and the nation-state. Tourism favored globalization and strong national identities at the same time. |
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This is an argument built on extensive use of archival and media material from both countries, although regrettably there is only perfunctory reference to film directors such as Jacques Tati or Jean-Luc Godard. It is even more regrettable that Endy rarely presents comparisons with other European nations' responses to American tourism. Despite this reservation, France remains a crucial test case for the many important questions Endy addresses, and his ability to explore them with entertaining narrative is refreshing. |
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