Cold War Holidays - (New Cold War History) by Christopher Endy (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

Moving beyond traditional state-centered conceptions of foreign relations, Christopher Endy approaches the Cold War era relationship between France and the United States from the original perspective of tourism. Focusing on American travel in France after World War II, Cold War Holidays shows how both the U.S. and French governments actively cultivated and shaped leisure travel to advance their foreign policy agendas.

From the U.S. government's campaign to encourage American vacations in Western Europe as part of the Marshall Plan, to Charles de Gaulle's aggressive promotion of American tourism to France in the 1960s, Endy reveals how consumerism and globalization played a major role in transatlantic affairs. Yet contrary to analyses of globalization that emphasize the decline of the nation-state, Endy argues that an era notable for the rise of informal transnational exchanges was also a time of entrenched national identity and persistent state power.

A lively array of voices informs Endy's analysis: Parisian hoteliers and café waiters, American and French diplomats, advertising and airline executives, travel writers, and tourists themselves. The resulting portrait reveals tourism as a colorful and consequential illustration of the changing nature of international relations in an age of globalization.

Review Quotes

"Cold War Holidays is an important and original contribution to crucial debates on the nature and extent of globalization. It will serve as a telling rejoinder to anyone who would relegate travel and tourism to the margins of international history." -- Matthew Connelly, Columbia University

"[An] intelligent and engaging book. . . . Filled with fresh insights and evidence on the interplay among foreign-policy makers, business and labor interests, government leaders, and consumers/tourists. . . . Endy's sophisticated blend of the histories of foreign relations and tourism enriches both approaches and should serve as a model for other scholars." -- Business History Review

"[Endy] has contributed an important piece to the story of contemporary globalization." -- Journal of Cold War Studies

"An effective case for the broadest possible view of what shapes the foreign relations of nations." -- Journal of American History

"An engaging study that illuminates hitherto unknown aspects of Franco-American relations, and contributes to understanding broader issues of globalization and national identities. . . . Cold War Holidays is a valuable contribution to the history of diplomacy, mass consumption, and globalization. It broadens the scope of what constitutes diplomatic history to include tourism with its attendant attributes of culture and consumerism, and it offers a new perspective on Franco-American relations from 1945 to 1970." -- H-France

"Impressively researched, fair-minded and frequently entertaining. . . . Provide[s] a fresh and learned perspective on a much studied subject." -- American Communist History

"Innovative, nuanced, and important." -- International History Review

"Rich in detail. . . . [Endy's] research sheds light on the era of 'Rick Steves' Europe.'" -- Boston Globe