{"product_id":"inside-the-cold-war-loy-henderson-and-the-rise-of-the-american-empire-19181961-9780195067071","title":"Inside the Cold War: Loy Henderson and the Rise of the American Empire  1918-1961","description":"\u003cp\u003eAlthough less remembered than some of his colleagues  American diplomat Loy Henderson often stood in the thick of controversy during his distinguished forty-year career. An uncompromising and frequently contentious anti-communist  Henderson left his unmistakable imprint on many crucial policy decisions  ranging from the delay of recognition of the Soviet Union in the 1920s and 1930s  to the Truman doctrine of the 1940s  to the overthrow of the Mosadeq government of Iran during the 1950s. Now  in this fascinating biography  H.W. Brands recounts Loy Hendersons far-flung diplomatic career and  in doing so  opens a window onto the entire Cold War Era. Hendersons ascent to a position of major influence among American foreign-policy makers paralleled the rise of the United States to unprecedented influence in global affairs  with anti-communism providing much of the impetus and rationale in both cases. Henderson acquired his life-long preoccupation with the communist menace--a preoccupation that reflected his psychological make-up and personal history  as well as the objective actions of Soviet leaders--in Moscow in the mid-1930s  when he served with the first group of American diplomats posted to the Soviet Union. He witnessed directly the terror and brutality of the Stalinist system  and he spent the rest of his career agitating against anything that might facilitate the spread of that system. Hendersons refusal to compromise his convictions threw him repeatedly into conflict with his superiors--as during World War II  when he warned that Soviet cooperation was a cynical and passing phenomenon  and in the fight over American support for the creation of Israel  when he predicted that American backing for the Zionists would alienate the Arabs and lay the Middle East open to Soviet penetration. In each instance  Hendersons outspokenness led to professional exile; but each time he succeeded in working his way back to the center of the decision-making process. Brandss compelling narrative captures the drama of some of the key developments in international politics in the twentieth century. We find Henderson sifting the rubble of World War I in Eastern Europe  taking a front-row seat at the Moscow purge trials  assessing the future of awakening Iraq during World War II  orchestrating Americas cold-war assumption of Britains imperial burden in Greece and Turkey  challenging the neutralism of Indias Nehru during the Korean war  and engineering the restoration of the shah of Iran. Brandss tale  based on Hendersons personal and official papers  and on the papers and recollections of many of Hendersons associates  is more than a biography; it is a chronicle of the most eventful period in recent American and world history  told through the life of one of the individuals who helped make the period so dramatic.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67624280293429,"sku":"ByrdShop_019506707X","price":241.64,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780195067071.jpg?v=1791387480","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/inside-the-cold-war-loy-henderson-and-the-rise-of-the-american-empire-19181961-9780195067071","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}