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Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming!
Pageantry and Patriotism in Cold-War America
Introduction
This book explores a widely lived yet little remembered facet of America's cultural and political history: the Cold War as experienced at the grassroots level.
Patriotic Observance During and After World War II
Here, Fried traces the cresting of modern patriotic observance during World War II and then shows how patriotic and civic activists afterwards labored to recreate a remembered unity and commitment in the tension-filled Cold War era.
Campaigns to Promote America
A variety of national and local entities mounted campaigns "to sell America to the Americans" through "rededication" celebrations like Know Your America Week and Freedom Week. The American Heritage Foundation wheeled out the Freedom Train, which carried seminal documents of the nation's past to railroad depots across the US.
Historical Incidents and Events
Fried revisits the 1950 "Communist invasion" of Mosinee, Wisconsin, when ersatz Stalinists harassed and bullied citizens and the town's eateries served only potato soup and black bread. He also depicts the creation and inauguration of new patriotic events like Loyalty Day and Armed Forces Day.
Conclusion
Meticulously researched, this book recreates a colorful, sometimes comical, and always revealing dimension of our history.
