American Science Fiction and the Cold War

American Science Fiction--in both literature and film--has played a key role in the portrayal of the fears inherent in the Cold War. The end of this era heralds the need for a reassessment of the literary output of the forty-year period since 1945. Working through a series of key texts,American Science Fiction and the Cold Warinvestigates the political inflections put on American narratives in the post-war decades by Cold War cultural circumstances. Nuclear holocaust, Russian invasion, and the perceived rise of totalitarianism in American society are key elements in the author's exploration of science fiction narratives that includeFahrenheit 451,Invasion of the Body Snatchers, andDr. Strangelove.

David Seed is Reader in the Department of English at the University of Liverpool, England