1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910811888503321

Autore

Tomes Robert R

Titolo

Apocalypse then : American intellectuals and the Vietnam War, 1954-1975 / / Robert R. Tomes

Pubbl/distr/stampa

New York, : New York University Press, c1998

ISBN

0-8147-8435-6

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (307 p.)

Disciplina

959.704/3373

Soggetti

Vietnam War, 1961-1975 - United States

Vietnam War, 1961-1975 - Influence

Intellectuals - United States - Political activity - History - 20th century

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. 269-280) and index.

Nota di contenuto

A long time in the comin' : American intellectuals and the Cold War, 1945-1963 -- Consensus and commitment : American intellectuals and Vietnam, 1954-1963 -- The search for order : from Diem to Pleiku, November 1963 to January 1965 -- Skepticism and dissent : from Rolling Thunder to Tet, February 1965 to January 1968 -- The collapse of the liberal consensus, 1968 -- The twilight of liberalism, 1969-1975.

Sommario/riassunto

Prior to the Vietnam war, American intellectual life rested comfortably on shared assumptions and often common ideals. Intellectuals largely supported the social and economic reforms of the 1930's, the war against Hitler's Germany, and U.S. conduct during the Cold War. By the early 1960's, a liberal intellectual consensus existed. The war in Southeast Asia shattered this fragile coalition, which promptly dissolved into numerous camps, each of which questioned American institutions, values, and ideals. Robert R. Tomes sheds new light on the demise of Cold War liberalism and the development of the New Left, and the steady growth of a conservatism that used Vietnam, and anti-war sentiment, as a rallying point. Importantly, Tomes provides new evidence that neoconservatism retreated from internationalism due largely to Vietnam, only to regroup later with substantially diminished goals and expectations. Covering vast archival terrain, Apocalypse Then stands as the definitive account of the impact of the Vietnam war on



American intellectual life.