When Homeward Bound first appeared in 1988, it forever changed the way we understand Cold War America. Previously, scholars understood the post-World War II era as a time when Americans turned away from politics to enjoy the fruits of peace and prosperity after decades of depression and war, while their leaders remained preoccupied with the Soviet threat and the dangers of the Atomic Age. Homeward Bound challenged the idea of an apolitical private arena, demonstrating that the Atomic Age and the Cold War were not merely the concerns of experts and policy makers, but infused American life on every level, from the boardroom to the bedroom.

As Elaine Tyler May argues, the official foreign policy of "containment" toward the Soviet Union had a domestic corollary, in which the perceived dangers of the age--nuclear war, communist subversion, consumer excess, sexual experimentation, and women's emancipation--were "contained" within the family, an institution now expected to fulfill its members hopes and dreams for security and the good life in the midst of a frightening world. "Domestic containment" is now the standard interpretation of the era, and Homeward Bound has become a classic.

This new edition includes an updated introduction and a new epilogue examining the legacy of Cold War obsessions with personal and family security in the present day.

About the Author
Elaine Tyler May is the Regents Professor in the Departments of American Studies and History at the University of Minnesota. She is the author books including America and the Pill, Homeward Bound, and Barren in the Promised Land, which received Honorable Mention for the William J. Goode Book Award. The former president of the American Studies Association and the Organization of American Historians, May has contributed to Ms., the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, and the Chronicle of Higher Education, among other publications.


Book Information
ISBN 9780465064649
Author Elaine May
Format Paperback
Page Count 352
Imprint Basic Books
Publisher Basic Books
Weight(grams) 314g
Dimensions(mm) 230mm * 153mm * 21mm