Freedom's War: The US Crusade Against the Soviet Union, 1945-56

Far from being just a policy of "containment" ensuring national security against the Soviet threat, US policy-makers sought a campaign which would vanquish the Soviet bloc. In the name of "freedom" the US goverment approved propaganda, economic warfare and covert action as well as diplomatic and military action to crush the Red Menace. This book examines the US pursuit of liberation of Eastern Europe from 1948 until the failure of the Hungarian Revolution in 1956. It also establishes how the US vision of freedom led to interventions in Asia, Africa and Latin America, and it details the massive propoganda campaign at home and abroad of the virtues of US possession of the atomic bomb. Most significantly, this book examines in detail the most important legacy of the Cold War, the forging of a network linking government and private groups, from labour unions to women's organizations to academics in the crusade for freedom. Beginning with the declaration of the Truman Doctrine, Lucas argues that the Cold War was a total war that required the contribution of all sectors of American society.