From one of the great political journalists of our time comes a boldly argued reinterpretation of the central event in our collective past—a book that portrays the American Revolution not as a clash of ideologies but as a Machiavellian struggle for power.
Theodore Draper is one of the two or three most cogent and thoughtful social historians in the United States today. Everything he writes merits close attention." -Irving Howe "Theodore Draper is a historian of today's world in a class by himself-formidably equipped with learning and experience, fearless in attacking the naivet of the left and the cruelty of the right." -Alfred Kazin Theodore Draper is one of America's most trenchant and informed critics. A Present of Things Past gathers together ten of his most recent and most powerful selected essays, in which Draper, with his customary acuity and wit, tackles a host of issues that define America's political culture. A Present of Things Past is concerned with a reexamination of the Second World War in both its military and its political aspects; the trajectory of American conservatism as it manifested itself during the Reagan years; the rise of Gorbachev and the history of "reform" in the Soviet Union; the revisionist debate over the origins and history of American communism; and the persistent mystery of a man named Max Eitingon, who was, depending on one's reading of the sources, either an important figure in the history of psychoanalysis or an agent of the Soviet secret police, or both. In "American Hubris," Draper illuminates the assumptions that have guided American foreign policy in the postwar period, and concludes that our costly misadventures-in Korea, Vietnam, Lebanon, and elsewhere-cannot be considered a string of aberrations. They were, he argues, a consequence of the Truman Doctrine. In "Reagan's Junta," Draper observes: "This is supposed to have been the era of the imperial presidency. It has turned out to be the era of presidencies that have tried to make themselves imperial-and failed." Throughout these compelling essays, Draper demonstrates the uses and abuses to which history has been put by ideologues of both the left and the right. He finds unacceptable, for example, the practice of many journalists of fictionalizing their sources. The New York Times has called Draper "one of the clearer-eyed observers of the issues that torment us." A Present of Things Past enhances that reputation. Theodore Draper is the author of numerous books, including Present History: On Nuclear War, Dtente & Other Controversies and American Communism. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and lives in Princeton, New Jersey. "Is especially recommended for students of political science, the Cold War era, and twentieth century American history as a powerful, thought-provoking view of the people and events that shaped nations, and through nations the world."--Library Bookwatch
This companion volume to The Roots of American Communism brings to completion what the author describes as the essence of the relationship of American Communism to Soviet Russia in the first decade after the Bolsheviks seized power. The outpouring of new archive materials makes it plain that Draper's premise is direct and to the point: The communist movement "was transformed from a new expression of American radicalism to the American appendage of a Russian revolutionary power." Each generation must find this out for itself, and no better guide exists than the work of master historian Theodore Draper. American Communism and Soviet Russia is acknowledged to be the classic, authoritative history of the critical formative period of the American Communist Party. Based on confidential minutes of the top party committees, interviews with party leaders, and public records, this book carefully documents the influence of the Soviet Union on the fundamental nature of American Communism. Draper's reflections on that period in this edition are a fitting capstone to this pioneering effort. Daniel Bell, in Saturday Review, remarked about this work that "there are surprisingly few scholarly histories of individual Communist parties and even fewer which treat of this crucial decade in intimate detail. Draper's account is therefore of great importance." Arthur M. Schlesinger, in The New York Times Book Review, says that "in reading Draper's closely packed pages, one hardly knows whether to marvel more at the detachment with which he examines the Communist movement, the patience with which he unravels the dreary and intricate struggles for power among the top leaders, or the intelligence with which he analyzes the interplay of factors determining the development of American Communism." And Michael Harrington in Commonweal asserted that Draper's book "will long be a definitive source volume and analysis of the Stalinization of American Communism." Theodore Draper is the author of many books on contemporary politics and international relations. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, and lives in Princeton, New Jersey. This is the third work of his to be reissued by Transaction.
This companion volume to The Roots of American Communism brings to completion what the author describes as the essence of the relationship of American Communism to Soviet Russia in the fi rst decade after the Bolsheviks seized power. The outpouring of new archive materials makes it plain that Draper's premise is direct and to the point: The communist movement "was transformed from a new expression of American radicalism to the American appendage of a Russian revolutionary power." Each generation must fi nd this out for itself, and no better guide exists than the work of master historian Theodore Draper. American Communism and Soviet Russia is acknowledged to be the classic, authoritative history of the critical formative period of the American Communist Party. Based on confi dential minutes of the top party committees, interviews with party leaders, and public records, this book carefully documents the infl uence of the Soviet Union on the fundamental nature of American Communism. Draper's refl ections on that period in this edition are a fi tting capstone to this pioneering effort. Daniel Bell, in Saturday Review, remarked about this work that "there are surprisingly few scholarly histories of individual Communist parties and even fewer which treat of this crucial decade in intimate detail. Draper's account is therefore of great importance." Arthur M. Schlesinger, in The New York Times Book Review, says that "in reading Draper's closely packed pages, one hardly knows whether to marvel more at the detachment with which he examines the Communist movement, the patience with which he unravels the dreary and intricate struggles for power among the top leaders, or the intelligence with which he analyzes the interplay of factors determining the development of American Communism." And Michael Harrington, in Commonweal, asserted that Draper's book "will long be a defi nitive source volume and analysis of the Stalinization of American Communism.
Details the origins of the Iran-Contra scandal, the roles of Reagan, Bush, CIA Director Casey, and others, and argues that President Reagan clearly set the policy then feigned ignorance to escape blame
American Business and Public Policy is a study of the politics of foreign trade. It challenges fifty years of writ-ing on pressure politics. It includes nine hundred interviews with heads of corporations, including 166 of the 200 largest corporations; another 500 interviews with congressmen, lob-byists, journalists, and opinion leaders; and eight community studies making this book the most intensive survey in print of the politics of business. It is a realistic behavioral examination of a major type of economic decision. The authors introduce their study with a history of the tariff as a political issue in American politics and a history of American tariff legislation in the years from Europe's trade recovery under the Marshall Plan to the challenge of the Common Market. They examine in succession the changing attitudes of the general public and the political actions of the business community, the lobbies, and Congress. American Business and Public Policy is a contribution to social theory in several of its branches. It is a contribution to understanding the business community, to the social psychol-ogy of communication and attitude change, to the study of political behavior in foreign policy. American Business and Public Policy is at once a study of a classic issue in American politics the tariff; decision-making, particularly the relation of economic to social-psycho-logical theories of behavior; business communication what businessmen read about world affairs, what effect foreign travel has on them, where they turn for political advice, and how they seek political help; pressure politics, lobbying, and the Congressional process.
American Business and Public Policy is a study of the politics of foreign trade. It challenges fifty years of writ-ing on pressure politics. It includes nine hundred interviews with heads of corporations, including 166 of the 200 largest corporations; another 500 interviews with congressmen, lob-byists, journalists, and opinion leaders; and eight community studies making this book the most intensive survey in print of the politics of business. It is a realistic behavioral examination of a major type of economic decision. The authors introduce their study with a history of the tariff as a political issue in American politics and a history of American tariff legislation in the years from Europe's trade recovery under the Marshall Plan to the challenge of the Common Market. They examine in succession the changing attitudes of the general public and the political actions of the business community, the lobbies, and Congress. American Business and Public Policy is a contribution to social theory in several of its branches. It is a contribution to understanding the business community, to the social psychol-ogy of communication and attitude change, to the study of political behavior in foreign policy. American Business and Public Policy is at once a study of a classic issue in American politics the tariff; decision-making, particularly the relation of economic to social-psycho-logical theories of behavior; business communication what businessmen read about world affairs, what effect foreign travel has on them, where they turn for political advice, and how they seek political help; pressure politics, lobbying, and the Congressional process.
The 84th Division in the Battle of Germany, November 1944 – May 1945, first published in 1946, is the account of the combat experiences of the noted “The Railsplitter Division” of the U.S. Army in the later days of World War II. Based on numerous interviews conducted immediately after each movement or encounter with the enemy, the book provides an in-depth look at the experiences of U.S. infantrymen as they moved into Germany in the face of often fierce resistance and muddy and freezing conditions. The Division fought at the Battle of the Bulge, was in the lead to cross the Roer and Rhine Rivers and the taking of the large city of Hannover, quickly followed by the successful crossing of the Elbe River. Along the way, the Division captured more than 70,000 German soldiers, liberated several concentration and internment camps, and met-up with Russian forces advancing from the east to form a critical part of the Allied victory. Included are 18 pages of maps and nearly 80 photographs and illustrations.
Satire takes as its subject the absurdity of human beings, their societies, and the institutions they create. For centuries, satirists themselves, scholars, critics, and psychologists have speculated about the satirist's reasons for writing, temperament, and place in society. The conclusions they have reached are sometimes contradictory, sometimes complementary, sometimes outlandish. In this volume, Leonard Feinberg brings together the major theories about the satirist, to provide in one book a summary of the problems that specialists have examined intensively in numerous books and articles. In part 1, Feinberg examines the major theories about the motivation of the satirist, and then proposes that "adjustment" comes most closely to answering this question. In his view, the satirist resolves his ambivalent relation to society through a playfully critical distortion of the familiar. The personality of the satirist, the apparently paradoxical elements of his nature, the problem of why so many great humorists are sad men, and the contributions of psychoanalysts are explored in part 2, where Feinberg contends that the satirist is not as abnormal as he has sometimes been made to seem, and that if he is a neurotic he shares traits of emotional or social alienation with many others. Part 3 explores the beliefs of satirists and their relation to the environment within which they function, particularly in the contexts of politics, religion, and philosophy. Feinberg stresses the ubiquity of the satirist and suggests that there are a great many people with satiric temperaments who fail to attain literary expression. Ranging with astonishing breadth, both historical and geographical, The Satirist serves as both an introduction to the subject and an essential volume for scholars. Brian A. Connery's introduction provides an overview of Feinberg's career and situates the volume in the intellectual currents in which it was written.
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