Enemy Number One tells the story of the Soviet cultural and propaganda apparatus and its efforts to control information about the United States in the postwar landscape. Beginning with the 1945 meeting of American and Soviet troops on the Elbe, this period saw cultural relations develop in close connection to oppression as the Soviet authorities attempted to contain and appropriate images of the United States. Rosa Magnusdottir analyzes two official narratives about the USSR's "enemy number one" --Stalin's anti-American campaign and Khrushchev's policy of peaceful coexistence--and shows how each relied on the legacy of the wartime alliance in their approach. Stalin used the wartime experience to spread fear of a renewed war, while Khrushchev used the wartime alliance as proof that the two superpowers could work together. Drawing from extensive archival resources, Magnusdottir brings to life the propaganda warriors and ideological chiefs of the early Cold War period in the Soviet Union, revealing their confusion and insecurities as they attempted to navigate the uncertain world of late Stalin and early Khrushchev cultural bureaucracy. She also demonstrates how concerned Soviet authorities were by their people's presumed interest in the United States, resorting to monitoring and even repression-behavior indicative of the inferiority complex of the Soviet project as it related to the outside world.

About the Author
Rosa Magnusdottir is Associate Professor of History at Aarhus University. She received her PhD in history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Reviews
Magnusdottir's book is well written and reads easily... it makes a very good supplement to existing studies of the cultural Cold War in the Soviet Union * Andrei Kozovoi, Universite de Lille, SEER *
This study is a rewarding read and every reader will gain greater insight into the ups and downs of Soviet propaganda. * Martin McCauley, East-West Review *
[an] impressive book ... Of particular merit are the places where Magnusdottir heroically endeavors to understand how the general Soviet populace consumed their leadership's propaganda. The research done to get at this question (which includes work in the archives of the Soviet Procuracy) is admirable indeed and offers a glimpse into a question that few historians have been able to answer. * Margaret E. Peacock, H-Diplo *
provides new and fascinating insights ... Magnusdottir has provided scholars with a better foundation to compare and contrast the experience of information experts in the United States and the Soviet Union, thus making Enemy Number One an essential read for any student of Cold War propaganda. * Toby C. Rider, Russian Review *
Enemy Number One is a valuable contribution to the historiography of the Cold War. It illuminates the two sides to propaganda which played out in the Soviet Union: the offensive...and the defensive...Magnusdottir paints a vivid picture of a different side to the Cold War than many study, but one which she demonstrates to have been just as critical to its prosecution * Simon Miles, Passport *
Magnusdottir's book is an important contribution to the field of the history of the cultural Cold War and could be a good source for use in college courses on Soviet and Cold War history. * Sergei I. Zhuk, Ball State University, American Historical Review *
Magnusdottir's succinct, concise writing style and clarity of argument make this work a clear asset to any undergraduate course in Cold War or Soviet history. This work provides a much-needed alternative view of the cultural Cold War from within the Soviet political system, and is ideal for enhancing students' understandings of the ideological battle for hearts and minds. * Matthew Brown, California State University, Long Beach, History Teacher *



Book Information
ISBN 9780190681463
Author Rosa Magnusdottir
Format Hardback
Page Count 256
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Dimensions(mm) 157mm * 236mm * 23mm