Alexander sees the characteristic feature of the Eisenhower era as aneffort to "hold the line" -- against Communism, against big government, againstintellectual challenge, against disruptive social change. The period 1952-1961 isexamined in trenchant detail by the author, who focuses on domestic politics andforeign policy but also examines economic, social, intellectual, and culturalaspects of the period. He scrutinizes such features of the fifties as McCarthyism, the Korean conflict, Dulles's system of global alliances, the early involvement inVietnam, the economic boom, the appearance of giant conglomerates, the emergence ofBlack protest, the gathering crisis of the cities, and the impact of the mass mediaon popular culture. This book is lively enough for general readers and students ofAmerican history since the Second World War, yet probing and scholarly enough tointerest specialists. Less
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