“This is a complex, thoughtful, and well-crafted work, in which the author traces the development in the 1940s of what he labels 'American nationalist globalism.' . . . Fousek has provided a sophisticated portrait of postwar American nationalism and the way in which it informed elite and public thought on U.S. foreign policy during the Cold War.” — Historian
“Offers considerable insight into the ever-more-complex history of America’s Cold War” — Journal of American History
“A lucid, well researched, and tightly argued book that is a significant contribution to the debate concerning American popular cultural attitudes and the start of the cold war.” — Political Science Quarterly
“This is a highly thought-provoking book that offers a number of debatable arguments. . . . This volume fulfills precisely the requirement of a good book. It raises more questions that it can answer and decenters the political analysis of Cold War propaganda.” — American Historical Review
“Well-researched and capably argued in an interesting fashion.” — Journal of Cold War Studies
“John Fousek’s To Lead the Free World incisively examines the way 'the Cold War consensus' was constructed in America. Fousek’s treatment of mass-print sources, including advertising, is particularly valuable. He also probes the subtle interpenetration of global issues and domestic policy, and the way major civil-rights and labor organizations adapted to the anticommunist ideological currents of the day. Anyone interested in postwar U.S. foreign policy, social history, and mass culture should read this book.” — Paul Boyer, University of Wisconsin-Madison
"A major contribution to scholarship on the origins of the Cold War, John
