Fear of Conspiracy: Images of Un-American Subversion from the Revolution to the Present (Cornell Paperbacks)

New
Paperback
2008
$56.59

First published by Cornell in 1971, The Fear of Conspiracy brings together eighty-five speeches, documents, and writings-the authors of which range from George Washington to Stokely Carmichael-that illustrate the role played in American history by the fear of conspiracy and subversion. This book, documenting two centuries of conspiracy-mongering (1763-1966), highlights the American tendency to search for subversive enemies and to construct terrifying dangers from fragmentary and highly circumstantial evidence.

Synopsis

First published by Cornell in 1971, The Fear of Conspiracy brings together eighty-five speeches, documents, and writings-the authors of which range from George Washington to Stokely Carmichael-that illustrate the role played in American history by the fear of conspiracy and subversion. This book, documenting two centuries of conspiracy-mongering (1763-1966), highlights the American tendency to search for subversive enemies and to construct terrifying dangers from fragmentary and highly circumstantial evidence.

$56.59

Quantity

20+ in stock

More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 369
Edition: New edition
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Published: 13 Feb 2008
ISBN 10: 0801491134
ISBN 13: 9780801491139

Media Reviews

Davis covers such deviations as pro- and anti-slavery factions, anti-Catholic groups up to the Liberty League, Communist and McCarthyite organizations, and anti-Warren Commission writings. Davis provides an introductory essay to each section and generally elucidates the importance of conspiratorial thinking in American history. -New York Times

Among these wild fantastic irrationalities and sober intellectual statements, one must keep context and chronology clear or there is danger of reigniting the flames of old worries and exploding ancient prejudices again. But Davis has supplied judicious commentary and adequate documentation of sources. -Library Journal

Davis offers selections from some heroes as well as from the historical villains. . . . Davis believes that acceptance of 'paranoid' notions 'leads inevitably to overreaction.' -The Nation

Although Davis identifies six conspiratorial themes that run the gamut of American history, two ideas make a most impressive impact: the threat of a foreign conspiracy, and the challenge to the established order. -Baltimore Evening Sun

Author Bio

David Brion Davis is Sterling Professor of History Emeritus at Yale University, where he is founder and director emeritus of the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition. This was the first book of Davis's long and distinguished career. He received the 1967 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction for his second book, The Problem of Slavery in Western Culture, which was also originally published by Cornell University Press. His 2014 book The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Emancipation won the National Book Critics Circle Award in Nonfiction.