The Writing on the Cloud American Culture Confronts the Atomic Bomb

This book is a path-breaking collection of essays which explore the diverse and complex ways American culture has been shaped by the looming presence of the atomic bomb, the central icon of technology, diplomacy, and war, of the second half of the twentieth century. These essays were originally presented as papers at a 1995 conference at Bowling Green State University commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the Bomb; this collection is unusual in the range of subjects addressed, which range from abstract expressionism and modernist poetry to television sitcoms and advertisements for lipstick and appliances. The papers fall into four general areas of investigation and interpretation: the analysis of widespread cultural issues or social movements; the examination of particular cultural artifacts; the explorations of aspects of political, diplomatic, or military history; and recollections or interpretations of personal experience.

Richard Aquila is a professor of history and director of the American Studies Program at Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana Daniel Belgrad teaches Humanities and American Studies at the University of South Florida at Tampa Christopher D. Geist is Professor and Chair of the Department of Popular Culture at Bowling Green State University Daniel Gomes is completing a Ph.D. in Public History at the University of California, Santa Barbara Margot A. Henriksen is an associate professor of recent American history at the University of Hawaii Cynthia Lee Henthorn is a visual culture historian and a Ph.D. candidate at the City University of New York in art history Ron Hirschbein coordinates a concentration in war and peace studies at California State University, Chico David Howard is Assistant Professor of Art History at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in Canada Michael Lewis is a Ph.D. candidate in American Studies at the University of Iowa, and is currently the Program Assistant for the International Forum for U.S. Studies Robert Jay Lifton is Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York, where he also serves as Director of the Center for Violence and Human Survival Leo Maley, III, is a graduate student in history at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst Richard Martin, Curator of The Costume Institute of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, is Adjunct Professor of Art History and Archaeology at Columbia University and Adjunct Professor of Art at New York University Joseph C. Ruff is a doctoral candidate in American Culture Studies at Bowling Green State University, where he teachers in the Department of Popular Culture Helen S. Schwartz is a historical consultant for the Strong Museum in Rochester, New York Alison M. Scott is Head Librarian of the Popular Culture Library of Bowling Green State University John Gregory Stocke is currently working towards a Ph.D. in United States history at the University of Akron Edward Teller is a senior research fellow at the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution and Peace