Though it ended more than thirty years ago, the Cold War still casts a long shadow over American society. Red Reckoning examines how the great ideological conflict of the twentieth century transformed the nation and forced Americans to reconsider almost every aspect of their society, culture, and identity. Using an interdisciplinary approach, the volume's contributors examine a broad array of topics, including the Cold War's impact on national security, race relations, gun culture and masculinity, law, college football, advertising, music, film, free speech, religion, and even board games. Above all, Red Reckoning brings a vitally important era back to life for those who lived through it and for students and scholars wishing to understand it.

The United States has a troubling history of violence regarding race. This book explores the emotionally charged conditions and factors that incited the eruption of race riots in America between the Progressive Era and World War II. While racially motivated riot violence certainly existed in the United States both before and after the Progressive Era through World War II, a thorough account of race riots during this particular time span has never been published. All Hell Broke Loose fills a long-neglected gap in the literature by addressing a dark and embarrassing time in our country's history-one that warrants continued study in light of how race relations continue to play an enormous role in the social fabric of our nation. Author Ann V. Collins identifies and evaluates the existing conditions and contributing factors that sparked the race riots during the period spanning the Progressive Era to World War II throughout America. Through the lens of specific riots, Collins provides an overarching analysis of how cultural factors and economic change intersected with political influences to shape human actions-on both individual and group levels. A comprehensive chronology of race riots between the Progressive Era and World War II A bibliography of race riot research materials An index highlighting important concepts, people, and events

What were the socioeconomic conditions and factors that resulted in riots erupting in northern U.S. cities in 1964? This book examines the year in American history that brought a new era in race relations to the nation. As the end of the second decade of the 21st century approaches, America seems on the verge of widespread civil unrest due to what is perceived to be consistent injustices against people of color, both in terms of lack of opportunity to improve their socioeconomic status and their treatment at the hands of law enforcement. Similar race-based resentment and anger swept the nation half a century ago. Can the United States avoid a repeat of the past? The Dawn Broke Hot and Somber: U.S. Race Riots of 1964 fills a crucial gap in racial collective violence literature, examining the changing nature of riots in the United States and identifying the conditions and factors that led to the anger and frustration that resulted in riots in July and August of 1964. Through its careful evaluation of specific riots in New York, New Jersey, Illinois, and Pennsylvania, this book shows how cultural and economic changes intersected with political circumstances to shape human actions. Readers will understand the effects that the riots had on the major political and economic issues of 1964, such as the implementation of the Civil Rights Act and the War on Poverty as well as the events of and the outcome of the presidential election between Lyndon Johnson and Barry Goldwater. The book also analyzes the actions taken by local, state, and federal officials to try to understand and quell the violence and considers the racial unrest that followed these riots in the later years of the 1960s and beyond.