Description
Book SynopsisDemonstrates that the creation of a civil defense program produced dilemmas about the degree to which civilian society should be militarized to defend itself against threats. This book uncovers responses to the militarization of daily life and reveals how government planners and ordinary people negotiated their way at the dawn of the atomic age.
Trade Review"A thought-provoking and richly empirical study of the evolution of civil defense and its implications for American citizens and their government during the first full decade of the nuclear age ... McEnaney's book is an absolute must-read for those interested in nuclear history, the social history of the 1950s, as well as gender and race analyses."--Paul G. Pierpaoli, Military History "[A] chilling study of the militarization of the American home under the civil defense policies of the Cold War."--Tom Vanderbilt, Bookforum "McEnaney's well-researched and well-written monograph adds to our understanding of the Cold War, the 1950s, and the relationship between military and domestic policy. Her analysis of gender, race and class adds significant dimensions to the current literature."--D'Ann Campbell, The Journal of American History "An important book that examines both the historical roots of Cold War political development in the United States and the effects of domestic Cold War mobilization on American society. I highly recommend Civil Defense Begins at Home to anyone interested in this important phase of postwar American political development. This book will be an excellent addition to advanced undergraduate courses as well as graduate courses in history, political science, and American studies."--Andrew D. Grossman, Journal of Cold War Studies "The book focuses on the political culture in which [Civil Defense] activists sought to devise a program, pry support from a stingy Congress, and evangelize the public... [It is] admirably well researched often imaginative, and always interesting."--Richard M. Fried, American Historical Review "[A] superb social history of American civil defense programs in the 1950s... I highly recommend [the book] to anyone interested in this important phase of postwar American political development."--Andrew D. Grossman, Journal of Cold War Studies
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix Introduction 3 Chapter One The Dilemmas of Planning and Propaganda 11 Chapter Two Living Underground: The Public Politics of Private Shelters 40 Chapter Three The Nuclear Family: Militarizing Domesticity, Domesticating War 68 Chapter Four Raising Women's Bomb Consciousness 88 Chapter Five "Equal in Suffering": Race, Class, and the Bomb 123 Conclusion 152 Notes 157 Bibliography 195 Index 209
