The Russians Are Coming! the Russians Are Coming!: Pageantry and Patriotism in Cold-War America

by Richard M. Fried

Release Date: June, 1999

Edition: Paperback

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Don't read this if you are a cold war novice.

Although this book has educational merit, and certainly a place in the study of the cold war, it is not a good book for people with little or no knowledge of the cold war. The book, although dry, is well written and well researched. Drawing upon primary sources it does a satisfactory job of presenting the stated thesis. However, the author really reaches at points (especially in the final chapters) to connect the subject he is discussing to the cold war. Some of the subjects discussed, for example the Civil War Centennial Celebration, took place during the cold war, but were not nessesarily connected to the cold war. If you are looking to build a foundational knowledge about cold war facts and history I suggest you look elsewhere.

Where Are the Photographs?

A skimpy book (only 159 pages of text), with rather repetitive material, this cries out for photographs of the pageantry it describes. But there's only one photo (on the cover). Where are the colorful parades, the patriotic pageants, the anti-Communist publications of that era?