Synopses & Reviews
Following the devastation of the Second World War and the realization that the damage to Europe was irreparable, the balance of world power shifted across the Atlantic from the old powers of Europe to the extremely visible power of the United States. Historian and journalist Norman Moss looks at this transfer of global rule from the point of view of the changing "special relationship" of the U.S. and Britain, with the U.S. taking on something like the imperial role that Britain had previously held. Although some had predicted this transfer of roles, few were ready for it whenit happened. At a time when America's diplomatic role in the world is coming increasingly under scrutiny, Picking Up the Reins looks at the U.S.'s assumption and acceptance of the role of superpower, and its evolution from being an opponent of the concept of empire, to a defender and ultimately an inheritor of the imperial role.
Review
From Kirkus Reviews Journalist and historian Moss (Nineteen Weeks: America, Britain, and the Fateful Summer of 1940, 2003, etc.) examines the years 1946-49, when the United States assumed the role of world leader. The end of World War II brought about many significant questions. Would Britain remain a world power? Would the Russians, Americas uneasy wartime ally, remain friendly? Would Europe, devastated in nearly every way, simply go belly up? Would Germany revert to its warlike ways? Would America return to its traditional isolationism? We know now that the answer to all these questions was a resounding "no," but at the time the contours of any new world order remained unclear. Readers deeply interested in the period should look elsewhere for detail, but Mosss nutshell version of the creation of the postwar world includes all the major events and cites all the crucial players. Though he alludes to other global episodes that played a role-Maos assumption of power in China, the Soviet acquisition of the nuclear bomb, the fighting in Palestine between Arabs and Jews-the author focuses on Europe and the transfer of power from Britain to the United States. Moss offers a close-up view of the ravaged British economy, the war weariness of the people and the initial reluctance, then resignation, with which Britain, loath to think itself so weak, passed the baton to the Americans. Against the backdrop of the nascent Cold War, through the Marshall Plan and NATO and out of motives both humanitarian and self-interested, America inserted itself into European affairs with characteristic enthusiasm and cultural insensitivity. Moss adroitly conveys the mixture of relief, resentment, awe and dismay that this shift engendered, noting that while U.S. military, cultural and economic dominance abides, the mantle of global leadership still rests uneasily on American shoulders.A handy guide to the creation of a world order that remains, in many respects, undisturbed.
Praise for Norman Mosss Nineteen Weeks:
"A gripping account." -The Washington Post
"A terrific history of a little understood moment."-The New Republic
Synopsis
An eloquent and enlightening account of America's postwar assumption of power
Table of Contents
Picking Up The Reins List of Illustrations
1. After Victory
2. Communism and Coca-Cola
3. Like a Young Man Pushed Out on His Own
4. A Speech At Harvard
5. Inventing Europe
6. America to the Rescue
7. Confrontation
8. Committed and Entangled
Notes
Bibliography
Index