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9780195045321

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'Paterson traces United States alarmism to the 1930s when Hitler's rise convinced many influential Americans that all totalitarian states, including Stalin's Russia, were menaces to world peace ... Paterson also argues convincingly that unregenerate cold warriors such as President Truman, Dean Acheson and John Foster Dulles were not the only culprits.' New York Times Book Review 'Paterson approaches a number of issues from fresh angles and provides detailed documentation on topics which others have treated only in passing' Richard Crockatt, University of East Anglia, Journal of American Studies

[The essays] compliment each other quite well, collectively providing a coherent examination of American foreign policy from the 1930s to the 1980s....The overall quality of the essays is remarkably high....The chapters on the intellectual progression of George Kennan, the originator of the containment doctrine, and on the effect of Vietnam on President Ronald Reagan's Central American policy are especially thoughtful and thought-provoking. --Oral History Review I think it is very important that Americans read this book....Meeting the Communist Threat is not only relevant to Mr. Gorbachev's recent visit, and to the difficulties we have adjusting to foreign cultures, but it supplies a description of the development of the Cold War uncolored by chauvinism. --J. William Fulbright, Former Chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations An update of Paterson's well-reasoned views. --Virginia Quarterly Review [Paterson] uses his thorough knowledge of the sources and a pungent style to take us behind the scenes of U.S. policy in the Cold War....The sights may not be pretty, but Paterson's handling of them is superb. --Walter LaFeber, Cornell University [Paterson's] thorough research adds to the now considerable body of scholarship showing how sharply Washington's fear-mongering contrasted with the more sober reports produced behind closed doors. --Alan Tonelson, The New York Times Book Review These provocative essays by one of America's most distinguished diplomatic historians explore the origins of Cold War assumptions and analyze the use of Cold War instruments. Meeting the Communist Threat should be essential reading for all students of postwar United States' foreign policy. --George C. Herring, University of Kentucky A thoughtful and concise analysis of America's postwar preoccupation with communism. --Ronald Steel, School of International Relations, University of Southern California [A] lucidly written and persuasively argued collection. --Choice [Paterson] offers a most provocative account of [the Cold War] conflict, doing so in a series of essays that often flow into seamless narrative....As useful to policymakers as to those desiring a most stimulating account of the recent past. --The St. Petersburg Times

'Paterson approaches a number of issues from fresh angles and provides detailed documentation on topics which others have treated only in passing' Richard Crockatt, University of East Anglia, Journal of American Studies `Paterson traces United States alarmism to the 1930s when Hitler's rise convinced many influential Americans that all totalitarian states, including Stalin's Russia, were menaces to world peace ... Paterson also argues convincingly that unregenerate cold warriors such as President Truman, Dean Acheson and John Foster Dulles were not the only culprits.' New York Times Book Review

""[The essays] compliment each other quite well, collectively providing a coherent examination of American foreign policy from the 1930s to the 1980s....The overall quality of the essays is remarkably high....The chapters on the intellectual progression of George Kennan, the originator of the containment doctrine, and on the effect of Vietnam on President Ronald Reagan's Central American policy are especially thoughtful and thought-provoking.""--Oral History Review ""I think it is very important that Americans read this book....Meeting the Communist Threat is not only relevant to Mr. Gorbachev's recent visit, and to the difficulties we have adjusting to foreign cultures, but it supplies a description of the development of the Cold War uncolored by chauvinism.""--J. William Fulbright, Former Chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations ""An update of Paterson's well-reasoned views.""--Virginia Quarterly Review ""[Paterson] uses his thorough knowledge of the sources and a pungent style to take us behind the scenes of U.S. policy in the Cold War....The sights may not be pretty, but Paterson's handling of them is superb.""--Walter LaFeber, Cornell University ""[Paterson's] thorough research adds to the now considerable body of scholarship showing how sharply Washington's fear-mongering contrasted with the more sober reports produced behind closed doors.""--Alan Tonelson, The New York Times Book Review ""These provocative essays by one of America's most distinguished diplomatic historians explore the origins of Cold War assumptions and analyze the use of Cold War instruments. Meeting the Communist Threat should be essential reading for all students of postwar United States' foreign policy.""--George C. Herring, University of Kentucky ""A thoughtful and concise analysis of America's postwar preoccupation with communism.""--Ronald Steel, School of International Relations, University of Southern California ""[A] lucidly written and persuasively argued collection.""--CHOICE ""[Paterson] offers a most provocative account of [the Cold War] conflict, doing so in a series of essays that often flow into seamless narrative....As useful to policymakers as to those desiring a most stimulating account of the recent past.""--The St. Petersburg Times

Author Information

Thomas G. Paterson is Professor of History at the University of Connecticut, Storrs. He is a past President of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, author of several books, including Soviet-American Confrontation and On Every Front, and editor of Kennedy's Quest for Victory.

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