America Ascendant: From Theodore Roosevelt to FDR in the Century of American Power, 1901-1945 / Edition 1

by Sean Dennis Cashman

Overview

Traces the development of American industrial power and the hurdles that threatened the country's ascendenceC

A lively tour of the United States in the first half of the twentieth century, America Ascendant traces the development of America's tremendous industrial power and its commercial deployment, at home and abroad. Emphasizing the contributions of those charismatic presidents who shaped the future of politics—Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt—the book also covers pioneers such as Henry Ford and the Wright brothers, whose technological contributions transformed societies the world over.

The book investigates the phenomena that threatened America's ascendance—the Great Red Scare of 1917-20 and the rout of organized labor, the Great Crash of 1929 and the searing depression years, and the apartheid policies that undermined American democratic ideals. Moreover, Sean Dennis Cashman sets the American story within the dramatic context of the rise and fall of political empires in Europe and Asia and two devastating world wars. Enriching the volume is an integrated account of the American cultural scene, replete with such figures as Ernest Hemingway, Frank Lloyd Wright, George Gershwin, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Charlie Chaplin, and D. W. Griffith.

Imaginatively conceived, America Ascendant once again reveals Sean Dennis Cashman's flair for bringing American history to life with all its triumphs, drama, and ambiguities.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780814715666
Publisher:	New York University Press
Publication date:	09/01/1998
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	561
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.67(d)

About the Author

Sean Dennis Cashman is the author of various popular books on American history, most recently the third edition of his classic America in the Gilded Age, also available from NYU Press.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"A brilliant book in this competitive market. . . . an excellent synthesis of the history of the United States from Theodore Roosevelt's succession to the Presidency in 1901 to Franklin D. Roosevelt's death in 1945 or, actually, the end of the war in the Pacific. . . . [It] reads well and has a compelling fascination."

-Francis M. Carroll,co-author of The Free and the Unfree

Editorial Reviews

"A brilliant book in this competitive market. . . . an excellent synthesis of the history of the United States from Theodore Roosevelt's succession to the Presidency in 1901 to Franklin D. Roosevelt's death in 1945 or, actually, the end of the war in the Pacific. . . . [It] reads well and has a compelling fascination."

Francis M. Carroll

Comprises a narrative history, with an emphasis on politics and culture, of the United States from the Progressive movement at the turn of the 20th century to the end of WWII in 1945. Includes fine b&w photographs and illustrations throughout. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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