The Shock Of America: Europe And The Challenge Of The Century (oxford History Of Modern Europe)
by David Ellwood /
2012 / English / PDF
3.7 MB Download
The Shock of America
The Shock of America is based on the proposition that
whenever Europeans of the last 100 years or more contemplated those
margins of their experience where change occurred, there, sooner or
later, they would find America. How Europeans have come to terms
over the decades with this dynamic force in their midst, and what
these terms were, is the story at the heart of this text. Masses of
Europeans have been enthralled by the real or imaginary prospects
coming out of the USA. Important minorities were at times deeply
upset by them. Sometime the roles were reversed or shaken up. But
nobody could be indifferent for long. Inspiration, provocation,
myth, menace, model: all these categories and many more have been
deployed to try to cope with the Americans. Attitudes and
stereotypes have emerged, intellectual resources have been
mobilised, positions and policies developed; all trying to explain
and deal with the kind of radiant modernity America built over the
course of the twentieth century.
is based on the proposition that
whenever Europeans of the last 100 years or more contemplated those
margins of their experience where change occurred, there, sooner or
later, they would find America. How Europeans have come to terms
over the decades with this dynamic force in their midst, and what
these terms were, is the story at the heart of this text. Masses of
Europeans have been enthralled by the real or imaginary prospects
coming out of the USA. Important minorities were at times deeply
upset by them. Sometime the roles were reversed or shaken up. But
nobody could be indifferent for long. Inspiration, provocation,
myth, menace, model: all these categories and many more have been
deployed to try to cope with the Americans. Attitudes and
stereotypes have emerged, intellectual resources have been
mobilised, positions and policies developed; all trying to explain
and deal with the kind of radiant modernity America built over the
course of the twentieth century.
David Ellwood combines political, economic, and cultural themes,
suggesting that American mass culture has provided the United
States with a uniquely effective link between power and influence
over time. The book is structured in three parts; a separation
based on the proposition that America's influence as an unavoidable
force for or against innovation was visible most conspicuously
after Europe's three greatest military-political conflicts of the
contemporary era: the Great War, World War II, and the Cold War. It
concludes with the emotional upsurge in Europe which greeted the
arrival of Obama on the world scene, suggesting that in spite of
all the disappointments and frictions of the years, the US still
retained its privileged place as a source of inspiration for the
future across the Western world.
David Ellwood combines political, economic, and cultural themes,
suggesting that American mass culture has provided the United
States with a uniquely effective link between power and influence
over time. The book is structured in three parts; a separation
based on the proposition that America's influence as an unavoidable
force for or against innovation was visible most conspicuously
after Europe's three greatest military-political conflicts of the
contemporary era: the Great War, World War II, and the Cold War. It
concludes with the emotional upsurge in Europe which greeted the
arrival of Obama on the world scene, suggesting that in spite of
all the disappointments and frictions of the years, the US still
retained its privileged place as a source of inspiration for the
future across the Western world.