
Cold War Captives
Imprisonment, Escape, and Brainwashing
Susan L. Carruthers(Author)
University of California Press
1st Edition
Published on 13. October 2009
Book
Paperback/Softback
352 pages
978-0-520-25731-3 (ISBN)
Description
This provocative history of early cold war America recreates a time when World War III seemed imminent. Headlines were dominated by stories of Soviet slave laborers, brainwashed prisoners in Korea, and courageous escapees like Oksana Kasenkina who made a 'leap for freedom' from the Soviet Consulate in New York. Full of fascinating and forgotten stories, "Cold War Captives" explores a central dimension of American culture and politics - the postwar preoccupation with captivity. 'Menticide', the calculated destruction of individual autonomy, struck many Americans as a more immediate danger than nuclear annihilation. Drawing upon a rich array of declassified documents, movies, and reportage - from national security directives to films like "The Manchurian Candidate" - his book explores the ways in which east-west disputes over prisoners, repatriation, and defection shaped popular culture. Captivity became a way to understand everything from the anomie of suburban housewives to the 'slave world' of drug addiction. Sixty years later, this era may seem distant.
Yet, with interrogation techniques derived from America's communist enemies now being used in the 'war on terror', the past remains powerfully present.
Yet, with interrogation techniques derived from America's communist enemies now being used in the 'war on terror', the past remains powerfully present.
More details
Edition
First Edition
Language
English
Place of publication
Berkerley
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
29 b-w photographs
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 23 mm
Weight
499 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-520-25731-3 (9780520257313)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
10/2009
1st Edition
Naval Institute Press
€33.99
Available for download
Person
Susan L. Carruthers is Associate Professor of History at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, in Newark. She is the author of The Media at War: Communication and Conflict in the Twentieth Century and Winning Hearts and Minds: British Governments, the Media, and Colonial Counter-Insurgency 1944-1960.
Content
List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction: Between Camps 1. Upper East Side Story: Repatriation, Romance, and Cold War Mobilization 2. Bloc-Busters: The Politics and Pageantry of Escape from the East 3. Stalin's Slaves: The Rise of Gulag Consciousness 4. First Captive in a Hot War: The Case of Robert Vogeler 5. Prisoners of Pavlov: Korean War Captivity and the Brainwashing Scare Epilogue: Returns and Repercussions List of Abbreviations Notes Bibliography Index