Beware the British serpent : the role of writers in British propaganda in the United States, 1939-1945 / Robert Calder.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Calder, Robert, 1941-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Authors, English--20th century--Political and social views.

Authors, English.

English literature--Political aspects.

English literature.

Propaganda, British--United States--History--20th century.

Propaganda, British.

World War, 1939-1945--Literature and the war.

World War, 1939-1945.

World War, 1939-1945--Propaganda.

World War, 1939-1945--United States.

Physical Description:

xiv, 311 p., [6] p. of plates : ill.

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Montreal ; Ithaca, [N.Y.] : McGill-Queen's University Press, 2004.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Using newly uncovered archival material, Calder offers provocative new insights into the war work of more than forty prominent British authors, focusing particularly on Somerset Maugham, Noel Coward, H.G. Wells, Vera Brittain, and J.B. Priestley. He provides a comprehensive analysis of the suspicions beneath the wartime Anglo-American alliance and describes the tensions that arose between the British Ministry of Information and the Foreign Office over the nature and direction of the propaganda campaign in the United States.Calder demonstrates that Britain's well-organized propaganda campaign in the United States to persuade it to enter World War I had left isolationist and Anglophobic Americans highly suspicious of anything that hinted of propaganda. Any effort to influence public opinion had therefore to be carefully and subtly undertaken, and the British Government soon realised that well-known authors - employed officially or semi-officially - were ideal for the task. Respected for their pens, they were especially suited to reminding Americans of their strongest links with Britain - a common language and a shared cultural heritage of Shakespeare, Dickens, Austen, Hardy, Thackeray, and others. As well, their profession had often led them to tour, speak, write, and live in America, and, because they could live on their royalties and speaking fees, they were not on the payroll of the British government and thus could not be identified as paid foreign agents.

Contents:

Front Matter

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

Illustrations

The Yanks Aren’t Coming

The Strangling Old School Tie

The Magic of the Word

Making the War Seem Personal

Uncoordinated Observations

One God-Damned Thing after Another

A Sad Story of Official Duplicity

Unheralded Ambassadors from England

Thrilling and Dramatic Fiction

A Friendly Intruder in a Non-Belligerent World

The Most Gigantic Engines of Propaganda

Conclusion

Notes

Bibliography

Index

Notes:

Includes index.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [289]-300) and index.

ISBN:

1-282-86173-5

9786612861734

0-7735-7179-5

OCLC:

929120855