Stein’s use of international comparisons added extensively to my understanding of the time period in question. Prior to this course, the books I have read on the subject of American history, focused primarily on the inner workings of American society (specifically politically and culturally). Stein uses an interesting approach in this book, as she compares the political party in power in the US, to the political party in power in European countries. “In the 1950s, conservatives headed European governments, too— Konrad Adenauer in Germany, Harold Macmillan in England, and General Charles de Gaulle in France.” (Stein, Chapter One: Politics and Society) The author then explains how during the time of “postwar prosperity” both American and European governments did not long for progressive governments (Stein, Chapter One: Politics and Society). While I had learned from my previous studies that the U.S. experienced a great economic improvement after the conclusion of the Second World War, I have not learned about the effect of this time period on European politics. Furthermore, I have not learned how U.S. and European politics reflected and mirrored each other. Stein writes, “But in the 1960s the moderate left regained power in the United States and Europe.” This adds additional support to prove the notion that U.S. politics do not form in a bubble. I think this is a really interesting example of the effect of globalization, and the impact it can have on a political party’s success. Politics in the U.S. and European governments do influence one another, even if traditional history textbooks may gloss over this fact.
In order to demonstrate that prevailing notions about the plentifulness of the time period may not indeed be accurate, Stein employs various figures of the average yearly incomes for families of various socioeconomic levels from the 1940s through the 1950s. Instead of basing her argument on numbers and statistical data alone, Stein offers a close examination of a family’s budget that was ranked “intermediate” by the Bureau of Labor Standards (Stein, Chapter One: Politics and Society). Stein writes, “The husband will take his wife to the movies once every three months and that one will go to the movies alone once a year” (Stein, Chapter One: Politics and Society). This is just one example of the incredibly specific examples given by Stein. I believe that writing out the budget in this way, allows readers to gain a better understanding of this time period and truly understand the living standards experienced by the masses. In addition, I think using these forms of evidence creates an incredibly strong argument about perception of a historical time period, in comparison to the reality of everyday life during this time period.
4/4