Search - Realism, Utopia, and the Mushroom Cloud : Four Activist Intellectuals and their Strategies for Peace, 1945-1989--Louise Weiss (France), Leo Szilard (U ... d), Danilo Dolci (Italy) (France Leo Szilard)

Realism Utopia and the Mushroom Cloud Four Activist Intellectuals and their Strategies for Peace 19451989Louise Weiss Leo Szilard Danilo Dolci - France - U ... d - Italy - France Leo Szilard
Author: Michael Bess

"Two world wars, concentration camps, the obliteration of Hiroshima and — Nagasaki, and continued preparations for nuclear war illustrate the modern — world's propensity for mass destruction. . . . Yet there have been — important signs of resistance to this trend. These have included not only — the emergence of mass-based peace and disarmament movem...  more »ents but activist

intellectuals grappling with the growing problem posed by mass violence

among nation-states. . . . Bess examines the lives and ideas of four of

these intellectuals: Leo Szilard of Hungary and (later) the United States,

E. P. Thompson of England, Danilo Dolci of Italy, and Louise Weiss of

France. . . . Realism, Utopia, and the Mushroom Cloud is a powerful,

important scholarly work, casting new light upon some of the great issues

of modern times. Readers will learn much from it."--Lawrence S.

Wittner, Peace and Change

"Bess seeks to understand the way in which the creation of the atomic bomb

has changed the social and political situation of humankind. Are we to be

held hostage by military forces or can we transform our situation? He

describes the lives of four very different activists, each with different

views on what causes conflict and how best to address conflict. . . .

Overall, this book offers an interesting perspective on life after the

atomic bomb. . . . In asking ourselves what the possibilities of our future

are, we can turn to these lives for some guidance. . . . This book is

informative, provocative, and encourages one to consider carefully how s/he

chooses to live."--Erin McKenna, Utopian Studies

"These four lives, researched and skillfully presented by historian Michael

Bess, make fascinating stories in themselves. They also serve as useful

vehicles for examining major cross-currents of Cold War resistance. . . .

From Weiss the cynical pragmatist to Szilard the high-level fixer to

hompson the social reformer to Dolce the spiritual street organizer,

Michael Bess has woven an illuminating tapestry of human efforts to cope

with life under the mushroom cloud."--Samuel H. Day Jr., The

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ISBN-13: 9780226044217
ISBN-10: 0226044211
Publication Date: 12/1/1993
Pages: 344
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Publisher: University Of Chicago Press
Book Type: Paperback
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

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