Paradoxes of Nostalgia

“In this analytically rigorous and impressively researched book Penny M. Von Eschen offers a profoundly original argument that the collapse of the Soviet Union reentrenched American elite faith in the necessity and goodness of US unipolar dominance of the world. By centering the rise and fall of the American unipolar project, Von Eschen presents a stunning synthetic history of the last thirty years that any scholar of the post--cold war period will have to confront. Paradoxes of Nostalgia is a magisterial accomplishment.” - Aziz Rana, author of The Two Faces of American Freedom

“Penny M. Von Eschen offers a bold, new, and sweeping analysis of the end of the cold war and its aftermath. Pressing beyond the usual containers for cold war history, Von Eschen seamlessly interweaves stories of glasnost, perestroika, and structural adjustment with those of ascendant pro-gun, family-values, Christian right politics and the rise of mass incarceration, inequality, and climate change. Her pathbreaking book helps us to make sense of the tumultuous present.” - Megan Black, author of The Global Interior: Mineral Frontiers and American Power

"This intriguing study is about opportunities missed and wrong paths taken in the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union. . . . [A]n interesting, important book. For lovers of history and current events." (Starred Review) - David Keymer, Library Journal

"Paradoxes of Nostalgia powerfully illustrates how Cold War triumphalism foreclosed many possible futures in the post–Cold War world. In so doing, it is a book that will shape the contours of the historiography of this period, which is only now beginning to emerge." - Fritz Bartel, American Historical Review

"This is a complex, wide-ranging analysis of the relationship between nostalgia for the stability, economic security, and consensus of the Cold War and the triumphalism that led to a post-1989 rise in inequality, conflict, and authoritarianism in the US and abroad. . . . An excellent addition to university Cold War collections. Highly recommended. Graduate students and faculty." - Choice

". . . the methodological dexterity and the multiplicity of sources makes for a fascinating study of U.S. foreign policy set in a deep reading of its culture. Paradoxes of Nostalgia delivers a hard-hitting and important message which cuts to the centre of intellectual and cultural production." - David Ryan, Diplomatic History

“Paradoxes of Nostalgia reads as a guidebook for our present political conjuncture. In a rich, deeply researched book, Von Eschen develops a smart analysis of U.S. nostalgia for the Cold War.” - Alex Lubin, Society for U.S. Intellectual History

"A heroic endeavor to tackle an existential historical problem in its full global dimensionality." - Barbara Walker, Slavic Review

"Von Eschen’s insights are provocative and resonant. . . . Paradoxes of Nostalgia rightly reminds readers that the Cold War era was neither peaceful nor predictable for millions of people. . . ." - Susan L. Carruthers, Journal of American History

"More than the sum of its parts, von Eschen’s book is a masterly synthesis of various strands that provides a convincing depiction of the United States’ shaping of the post-Cold War world." - David Neumann, World History Connected