| Description: | In 1955, The United States Information Agency Published A Lavishly Illustrated Booklet Called My America Assembled Ostensibly To Document The Basic Elements Of A Free Dynamic Society, The Booklet Emphasized Cultural Diversity, Political Freedom, And Social Mobility And Made No Mention Of Mccarthyism Or The Cold War Though Hyperbolic, My America Was, As Laura A Belmonte Shows, Merely One Of Hundreds Of Pamphlets From This Era Written And Distributed In An Organized Attempt To Forge A Collective Defense Of The American Way Of Life Selling The American Way Examines The Context, Content, And Reception Of U S Propaganda During The Early Cold War Determined To Protect Democratic Capitalism And Undercut Communism, U S Information Experts Defined The National Interest Not Only In Geopolitical, Economic, And Military Terms Through Radio Shows, Films, And Publications, They Also Propagated A Carefully Constructed Cultural Narrative Of Freedom, Progress, And Abundance As A Means Of Protecting National Security Not Simply A One-Way Look At Propaganda As It Is Produced, The Book Is A Subtle Investigation Of How U S Propaganda Was Received Abroad And At Home And How Criticism Of It By Congress And Successive Presidential Administrations Contributed To Its Modification |
