Nationalism in American Thought 1930-1945

by Charles Alexander

Nationalism in American Thought 1930-1945

272 pages, Mass Market Paperback

Published January 1, 1969

Reviews

[Tom Schulte · Rating 3 out of 5]

I rather expected a deeper dive into how nationalists in even a pro-Nazi way (Lindbergh, Ford, Coughlin, etc.) proliferated in gained prominence in this era. That is really a footnote to this Depression and post-Depression look at American history. If anything, it bolstered personal theory of mine: American government was founded on a faulty system that built up executive branch power toward imbalance and enabled a devouring capitalism that required resources like land, immigrants, gold, whatever to fuel its furnaces. WWI to the Depression and the impending WWII forced a reevaluation of this model with no more significant homesteading or other fuel for burning. I feel we are still grappling with how to move forward and in that grappling of these years: nationalism, socialism, and even Marxism were flirted with.

This is interesting in that breaks down areas of education, theatre, books published, etc. for a separate essay on each slice of American life during this time.