
A Present of Things Past
Theodore Draper(Author)
Routledge (Publisher)
1st Edition
Published on 19. February 2018
Book
Hardback
305 pages
978-1-138-51847-6 (ISBN)
Description
Theodore Draper is one of America's most trenchant and informed critics. A Present of Things Past gathers together ten of his most recent and most powerful selected essays, in which Draper, with his customary acuity and wit, tackles a host of issues that define America's political culture. A Present of Things Past is concerned with a reexamination of the Second World War in both its military and its political aspects; the trajectory of American conservatism as it manifested itself during the Reagan years; the rise of Gorbachev and the history of "reform" in the Soviet Union; the revisionist debate over the origins and history of American communism; and the persistent mystery of a man named Max Eitingon, who was, depending on one's reading of the sources, either an important figure in the history of psychoanalysis or an agent of the Soviet secret police, or both. In "American Hubris," Draper illuminates the assumptions that have guided American foreign policy in the postwar period, and concludes that our costly misadventures--in Korea, Vietnam, Lebanon, and elsewhere--cannot be considered a string of aberrations. They were, he argues, a consequence of the Truman Doctrine. In "Reagan's Junta," Draper observes: "This is supposed to have been the era of the imperial presidency. It has turned out to be the era of presidencies that have tried to make themselves imperial-and failed." Throughout these compelling essays, Draper demonstrates the uses and abuses to which history has been put by ideologues of both the left and the right. He finds unacceptable, for example, the practice of many journalists of fictionalizing their sources. The New York Times has called Draper "one of the clearer-eyed observers of the issues that torment us." A Present of Things Past enhances that reputation.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Weight
760 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-138-51847-6 (9781138518476)
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

Theodore Draper
A Present of Things Past
E-Book
04/2020
1st Edition
Routledge
€44.99
Available for download

Theodore Draper
A Present of Things Past
E-Book
04/2020
1st Edition
Routledge
€44.99
Available for download

Theodore Draper
A Present of Things Past
Book
12/2000
1st Edition
Transaction Publishers
€59.60
Article not available at the moment
Person
Theodore Draper,
Content
Introduction to the Transaction Edition -- Preface -- From Eisenhower to -- Eisenhower's War -- American Hubris -- Reagan's Junta -- From American Communism to -- American Communism Revisited -- The Class Struggle -- Soviet Reformers: From Lenin to Gorbachev -- History or -- Journalistic History -- To Quote or Not to Quote -- Neoconservative History -- The Mystery of Max Eitingon -- Index.