Cold War Women

For too long, American women have been hidden in the history of the Cold War. In "Cold War Women", Helen Laville recovers their significance by examining the activities and ambitions of American women's organisations in the long period of uneasy peace. After the Second World War, women around the globe claimed that to avoid more death and devastation in the Atomic Age, they must promote internationalism and strive together for a peaceful future. However, as the Cold War escalated, American women abandoned the internationalist outlook of their foreign sisters in favour of solidarity with their national brothers. Far from being advocates of internationalism, many of these women became active agents for Americanism. American women's organisations were not alone in their ideological battle with Soviet-backed groups. In their export of the 'correct' vision of the American way of life and of women's proper place within it, they could count on the assistance of the State Department, the US High Commission in Germany, and, most significantly, the CIA. And, if some women in the US presented an alternative for 'peace' which didn't match this vision, American women's organisations and the government were ready to co-operate to quash the challenge. This fascinating study will be invaluable to those in the field of gender and women's history, cultural studies, and American history.