Apocalypse then
Subtitle: American intellectuals and the Vietnam War, 1954-1975
By: Robert R. Tomes.
Publisher: New York University Press
Published: 1998
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 293
Subjects: Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 -- United States; Vietnamese Conflict, 1961-1975 -- Influence; Intellectuals -- United States -- Political activity -- History -- 20th century
Description: Prior to the Vietnam War, American intellectual life rested comfortably on shared assumptions and often common ideals. Intellectuals largely supported the social and economic reforms of the 1930s, the war against Hitler's Germany, and U.S. conduct during the Cold War. By the early 1960s, a liberal intellectual consensus existed.

The war in Southeast Asia shattered this liberal consensus by causing a relentless series of crises which effectively undermined its fundamental assumptions. Throughout these years, a sense of passion and urgency prevailed, as idealism, optimism, and American exceptionalism gave way to disillusionment, pessimism, and a diminished confidence in and trimmed expectations for American life.

For all involved, the war in Vietnam assumed apocalyptic dimensions, as somehow the very best or very worst America had to offer seemed at stake. Apocalypse Then stands as the definitive account of the impact of the Vietnam War on American intellectual life.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 269-280) and index.
Table of contents: title: A long time in the comin' : American intellectuals and the Cold War, 1945-1963; title: Consensus and commitment : American intellectuals and Vietnam, 1954-1963; title: The search for order : from Diem to Pleiku, November 1963 to January 1965; title: Skepticism and dissent : from Rolling Thunder to Tet, February 1965 to January 1968; title: The collapse of the liberal consensus, 1968; title: The twilight of liberalism, 1969-1975.