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Review
| A Time of Paradox: America from the Cold War to the Third Millennium, 1945-Present, by Glen Jeansonne with David Luhrssen. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2007. 275 pages. $39.95 paper.
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| In this book, Jeansonne argues that the essential theme dominating the American experience since the Second World War is a sense of paradox. Borrowing from Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, Jeansonne asserts that the period from 1945 to the present represents the best and worst of times for Americans. He writes, "We conquered Hitler and polio, and gathered rocks on the surface of the moon. Yet we were humiliated in the steamy jungles of Vietnam, found poverty intractable, and failed to cure the common cold. We were the world's leaders. We set examples, good and bad" (p. 261). |
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Paradox seems to be a reasonable description for a period characterized by the increasing pace of change and growing diversity. To impose some order upon this chaotic time, Jeansonne divides his survey into two parts: the first section concentrates upon the years 1945–1968 and is called the era of uncertainty, while the second half, focusing upon the period since 1969, is entitled an era of diversity. The twelve chapters are primarily a standard political history of the time, although the two chapters dwelling upon cultural events are the product of Jeansonne's collaboration with David Luhrssen. |
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It is easy to quibble with many of the conclusions reached by Jeansonne and Luhrssen because the writing of such a broad survey requires that the authors engage in generalizations upon a range of topics. For example, in commenting upon the impact of Jackie Robinson breaking baseball's color barrier in 1947, the authors insist, "Once the skill of black athletes was established, college and professional teams raced to recruit them" (p. 11). This overly optimistic observation fails to take into consideration the fact that when Robinson retired from Major League Baseball in 1956, there were still no black players on the rosters of the Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox. The cultural chapters which address controversial issues of race, sexuality, and religion are probably the most likely to provoke criticism from both the political left and right, although the book appears to demonstrate a somewhat conservative political orientation. Black power is described as an "incendiary slogan" which alienated whites, but the complexities of this political ideology are not explored. The authors often mention that conservatives preferred solutions based upon "personal responsibility," while the economic and political power of corporate America is rarely considered. |
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A Time of Paradox provides a fairly even-handed account of American Presidential leadership from Harry Truman to George W. Bush. And this fact, coupled with relative brevity and accessibility to the general reader, should make A Time of Paradox a desirable text for post World War II courses at the undergraduate level as well as more accelerated high school American history classes. The text also includes rather extensive bibliographic essays as well as photos, graphs, and maps to illustrate the authors' narrative. Students should also enjoy the biographical profiles of such cultural figures as Janis Joplin, Madonna, and Jackie Robinson, chosen to demonstrate the themes of paradox and diversity. Although A Time of Paradox may prove more popular with students than a more detailed text of post World War II America such as William Chafe's The Unfinished Journey, teachers will need to supplement the book. A further caveat about using the Jeansonne and Luhrssen text is that, while it raises many crucial issues, the complexity and explanation of these events are often missing. For example, the feminization of poverty in the 1970s and emergence of health care as a concern of contemporary politics are acknowledged, but readers will learn little about the causes of these concerns. Nevertheless, A Time of Paradox should serve as a useful survey to raise issues which students can explore in greater depth by expanding their research and analysis of this key time in American history. |
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| Sandia Preparatory School, Albuquerque, New Mexico |
Ron Briley |
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