These essays analyze how German and American views of each other developed and periodically shifted, providing a fresh analysis of the often complex German-American relationship. The images--found in travelogues, private letters, diaries, diplomatic reports, newspaper articles, and movies--that resulted from each encounter frequently reflected the contemporary relations, often foreshadowed future trends, and illustrate how political agendas, prejudices, stereotypes, and pragmatic forces influenced each society's perceptions.

These essays analyze how German and American views of each other developed and periodically shifted, providing a fresh analysis of the often complex German-American relationship. The images--found in travelogues, private letters, diaries, diplomatic reports, newspaper articles, and movies--that resulted from each encounter frequently reflected the contemporary relations, often foreshadowed future trends, and illustrate how political agendas, prejudices, stereotypes, and pragmatic forces influenced each society's perceptions.

This book explores the influence of Hannah Arendt's and Leo Strauss' background in pre-World War II Germany on their perception of American democracy. The contributors analyze how their émigré experience both influenced their American work and also impacted on the formation of the discipline of political science in postwar Germany. Arendt's and Strauss' experiences thus aptly illustrate the transfer and transformation of political ideas in the World War II era.