Why did the United States assume a preeminent world role after World War II, and why has that role declined since the Vietnam War? This magisterial book--the first intellectual and cultural history of America's evolving status as a world power in the twentieth century--addresses these questions by examining Americans' perceptions of themselves and of the world during this period.
Drawing on the writings of leading intellectuals, speeches by politicians, popular periodicals, movies and television, opinion polls, and dozens of other sources, Donald W. White explores what Americans thought...