John W. Lemza's Books

Charles A. Willoughby and the Anti-Communist Crusade

Forging the Geopolitics of the American Old Right

By: John W. Lemza

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

Charles A. Willoughby and the Anti-Communist Crusade

Forging the Geopolitics of the American Old Right

By: John W. Lemza

Beware the Red Peril!" was the clarion call of General Charles A. Willoughby at the close of World War II. The refrain echoed from Capitol Hill into American living rooms. For three decades after the war, the Old Right crusaded against global communist expansion, sniffing out internal and external threats to the American way of life. These paleo-conservatives faced resistance from the Left, as well as from an emerging faction on the Right that sought to frame a new identity for conservatism. Despite those obstacles, the Old Right made a lasting imprint on geopolitical thought in the early Cold War period. This book investigates their influence, the roles played by women, minorities and Jewish conservatives, and their legacy in early 20th century ideologies.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

230

Publisher

McFarland

Published Date

ISBN 10

1476693501

ISBN 13

9781476693507

The Big Picture

The Cold War on the Small Screen

By: John W. Lemza

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

The Big Picture

The Cold War on the Small Screen

By: John W. Lemza

Capitalizing on thousands of feet of accumulated footage captured by combat camera crews during the early years of the Korean War, a small group of US Army officers conceptualized a film series that would widen viewers’ understanding of the service and its mission. Their efforts produced the documentary television series that in late 1951 would become The Big Picture. Although it would take years to fully utilize the emerging technologies and develop the concept into a popularly recognized television series, The Big Picture did evolve into a vehicle whose intention was to help the army tell its story, sell its relevance in the emerging Cold War, and inform and educate its audience about American ideals. Its messages captured the early post-1945 zeitgeist and reflected a national mood that was anticommunist, steeped in foundational principles of American exceptionalism, and trusting of elite leadership. John W. Lemza’s The Big Picture argues that the show, like others produced for television during that time by the armed forces, served as a vehicle for directed propaganda, scripted to send important Cold War messages to both those in uniform and the American public. In this first systematic study of its production and reception history as well as its themes and cultural impact, Lemza shows how the producers incorporated specific Cold War themes, such as anticommunism, into episodes and deployed television’s small screen as the intersection of propaganda and policy during the Cold War period. John Lemza’s study reveals that the longer The Big Picture maintained those themes the more they began to lose their resonance, especially when the cultural and social environment of the United States began changing in the mid-1960s. The series producers chose to continue on a course that was set during the early Cold War years, and the credibility of the show began to suffer. Throughout the course of its two-decade production run, however, The Big Picture cast a big shadow as the premier military program influencing viewing audiences through primetime television and syndication.

Average ratings

N/A

Write a review

Solve jigsaw puzzle

Age

Page Count

288

Publisher

University Press of Kansas

Published Date

ISBN 10

0700632530

ISBN 13

9780700632534

American Military Communities in West Germany

Life in the Cold War Badlands, 1945-1990

By: John W. Lemza

Write a review Read reviews Take a Quiz Solve Book Puzzle

American Military Communities in West Germany

Life in the Cold War Badlands, 1945-1990

By: John W. Lemza

On April 28, 1946, a small group of American wives and children arrived at the port of Bremerhaven, West Germany, the first of thousands of military family members to make the trans-Atlantic journey. They were the basis of a network of military communities--"Little Americas"--that would spread across the postwar German landscape. During a 45-year period which included some of the Cold War's tensest moments, their presence confirmed America's resolve to maintain Western democracy in the face of the Soviet threat. Drawing on archival sources and personal narratives, this book explores these enclaves of Americanism, from the U.S. government's perspective to the grassroots view of those who made their homes in Cold War Europe. These families faced many challenges in balancing their military missions with their daily lives during a period of dynamic global change. The author describes interaction in American communities that were sometimes separated, sometimes connected with their German neighbors.

Average ratings

N/A