Mythomania Tales Of Our Times From Apple To Isis

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Mythomania

Author : Peter Conrad
Publisher : National Geographic Books
ISBN 13 : 0500293546
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (2 download)

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Book Synopsis Mythomania by : Peter Conrad

Download or read book Mythomania written by Peter Conrad and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2017-09-12 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: [An] entertaining rejoinder, [a] look at the hidden structures and unacknowledged tendencies of our day. —Kirkus Reviews Despite a proclaimed respect for scientific reason, humans are still as intrigued by myth as their remote ancestors. Laptops and smartphones are sold under a logo that invokes the forbidden fruit of the Garden of Eden; skimpily clad classical nymphs cavort in TV reality shows; Narcissus makes a comeback whenever we snap a selfie. Mythical creatures such as handsome vampires abound in best-selling novels. Myth has also invaded the political realm, now that terrorists brandish black flags and recite theological mantras as they martyr themselves. In twenty-seven self-contained entries, Peter Conrad illuminates in his own remarkable way subjects from the British Queen to the Kardashians, via Banksy, vaping, Trump’s penthouse, and the inception of the Large Hadron Collider. In Judge Judy, he shows a matronly Roman goddess dispensing justice with a fly swatter. In the metamorphosis of Caitlyn Jenner from Olympic athlete and paterfamilias into idealized female form, he finds parallels to the transformations of the residents of Mount Olympus. Myths used to tell us where we came from. Now, alarmed but also elated by the pace of change in our society, we need them to tell us where we are going.

Mythomania: Tales of Our Times, from Apple to Isis

Author : Peter Conrad
Publisher : Thames & Hudson
ISBN 13 : 0500773556
Total Pages : 248 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (7 download)

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Book Synopsis Mythomania: Tales of Our Times, from Apple to Isis by : Peter Conrad

Download or read book Mythomania: Tales of Our Times, from Apple to Isis written by Peter Conrad and published by Thames & Hudson. This book was released on 2017-01-10 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Weaves ancient myth into modern celebrity and consumerist culture to expose the absurdity and occasional insanity of twenty-first-century society, economy, and politics Despite a proclaimed respect for scientific reason, humans are still as intrigued by myth as their remote ancestors. Laptops and smartphones are sold under a logo that invokes the forbidden fruit of the Garden of Eden; skimpily clad classical nymphs cavort in TV reality shows; Narcissus makes a comeback whenever we snap a selfie. Mythical creatures such as handsome vampires abound in best-selling novels. Myth has also invaded the political realm, now that terrorists brandish black flags and recite theological mantras as they martyr themselves. In twenty-seven self-contained entries, Conrad illuminates in his own remarkable way subjects from the British Queen to the Kardashians, via Banksy, vaping, and the inception of the Large Hadron Collider. In Judge Judy, he shows a matronly Roman goddess dispensing justice with a fly swatter. In the metamorphosis of Caitlyn Jenner from Olympic athlete and paterfamilias into idealized female form, he finds parallels to the transformations of the residents of Mount Olympus. Myths used to tell us where we came from. Now, alarmed but also elated by the pace of change in our society, we need them to tell us where we are going.

The Handbook of Organizational Rhetoric and Communication

Author : Oyvind Ihlen
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 1119265738
Total Pages : 533 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (192 download)

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Book Synopsis The Handbook of Organizational Rhetoric and Communication by : Oyvind Ihlen

Download or read book The Handbook of Organizational Rhetoric and Communication written by Oyvind Ihlen and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2018-08-14 with total page 533 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A one-stop source for scholars and advanced students who want to get the latest and best overview and discussion of how organizations use rhetoric While the disciplinary study of rhetoric is alive and well, there has been curiously little specific interest in the rhetoric of organizations. This book seeks to remedy that omission. It presents a research collection created by the insights of leading scholars on rhetoric and organizations while discussing state-of-the-art insights from disciplines that have and will continue to use rhetoric. Beginning with an introduction to the topic, The Handbook of Organizational Rhetoric and Communication offers coverage of the foundations and macro-contexts of rhetoric—as well as its use in organizational communication, public relations, marketing, management and organization theory. It then looks at intellectual and moral foundations without which rhetoric could not have occurred, discussing key concepts in rhetorical theory. The book then goes on to analyze the processes of rhetoric and the challenges and strategies involved. A section is also devoted to discussing rhetorical areas or genres—namely contextual application of rhetoric and the challenges that arise, such as strategic issues for management and corporate social responsibility. The final part seeks to answer questions about the book’s contribution to the understanding of organizational rhetoric. It also examines what perspectives are lacking, and what the future might hold for the study of organizational rhetoric. Examines the advantages and perils of organizations that seek to project their voices in order to shape society to their benefits Contains chapters working in the tradition of rhetorical criticism that ask whether organizations’ rhetorical strategies have fulfilled their organizational and societal value Discusses the importance of obvious, traditional, nuanced, and critically valued strategies such as rhetorical interaction in ways that benefit discourse Explores the potential, risks, paradoxes, and requirements of engagement Reflects the views of a team of scholars from across the globe Features contributions from organization-centered fields such as organizational communication, public relations, marketing, management, and organization theory The Handbook of Organizational Rhetoric and Communication will be an ideal resource for advanced undergraduate students, graduate students, and scholars studying organizational communications, public relations, management, and rhetoric.

Mind is the Ride

Author : Jet McDonald
Publisher : Unbound Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1783526920
Total Pages : 342 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (835 download)

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Book Synopsis Mind is the Ride by : Jet McDonald

Download or read book Mind is the Ride written by Jet McDonald and published by Unbound Publishing. This book was released on 2019-05-16 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Jet McDonald cycled four thousand miles to India and back, he didn’t want to write a straightforward account. He wanted to go on an imaginative journey. The age of the travelogue is over: today we need to travel inwardly to see the world with fresh eyes. Mind is the Ride is that journey, a pedal-powered antidote to the petrol-driven philosophies of the past. The book takes the reader on a physical and intellectual adventure from West to East using the components of the bike as a metaphor for philosophy, which is woven into the cyclist's experience. Each chapter is based around a single component, and as Jet travels he adds new parts and new philosophies until the bike is 'built'; the ride to India is completed; and the relationship between mind, body and bicycle made apparent.

The Rise of the Civilizational State

Author : Christopher Coker
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 1509534644
Total Pages : 205 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (95 download)

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Book Synopsis The Rise of the Civilizational State by : Christopher Coker

Download or read book The Rise of the Civilizational State written by Christopher Coker and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2019-03-05 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In recent years culture has become the primary currency of politics – from the identity politics that characterized the 2016 American election to the pushback against Western universalism in much of the non-Western world. Much less noticed is the rise of a new political entity, the civilizational state. In this pioneering book, the renowned political philosopher Christopher Coker looks in depth at two countries that now claim this title: Xi Jinping’s China and Vladimir Putin’s Russia. He also discusses the Islamic caliphate, a virtual and aspirational civilizational state that is unlikely to fade despite the recent setbacks suffered by ISIS. The civilizational state, he contends, is an idea whose time has come. For, while civilizations themselves may not clash, civilizational states appear to be set on challenging the rules of the international order that the West takes for granted. China seems anxious to revise them, Russia to break them, while Islamists would like to throw away the rule book altogether. Coker argues that, when seen in the round, these challenges could be enough to give birth to a new post-liberal international order.

Long Live the Queen

Author : Bryan Kozlowski
Publisher : Turner Publishing Company
ISBN 13 : 1684425468
Total Pages : 255 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (844 download)

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Book Synopsis Long Live the Queen by : Bryan Kozlowski

Download or read book Long Live the Queen written by Bryan Kozlowski and published by Turner Publishing Company. This book was released on 2020-11-10 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Does this crown make me look old?” said the Queen never. Her longevity, health and physical stamina are legendary. Now the longest reigning monarch in British history, Elizabeth II has spent over half a century on the throne, rarely taking a sick day and, in her tenth decade, remains amazingly comfortable in her own skin. How does one do it, Ma’am? For the first time, step behind Palace doors to unlock the little-known strategies behind the Queen’s remarkable self-preservation. Investigating the 23 rules of her iconic resilence, you’ll learn how to channel your inner royal – at work, at play, or at the table – in this fascinating plunge into the House of Windsor’s famous fountain of youth. Extensively researched and delightfully revelatory, it’s the story of how one strong queen can make stronger, happier, healthier subjects of us all. Long live you!

The Mysteries of Cinema: Movies and Imagination

Author : Peter Conrad
Publisher : Thames & Hudson
ISBN 13 : 0500776385
Total Pages : 470 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (7 download)

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Book Synopsis The Mysteries of Cinema: Movies and Imagination by : Peter Conrad

Download or read book The Mysteries of Cinema: Movies and Imagination written by Peter Conrad and published by Thames & Hudson. This book was released on 2021-04-20 with total page 470 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ranging from the late nineteenth century to the present day, this exhilarating survey by cultural critic Peter Conrad explores the ways film has changed how we see the world. This is a thematic roller-coaster ride through cinema history, with film expert Peter Conrad in the seat beside you. Thoroughly international, this book ranges from Fay Wray to Satyajit Ray, from Buster Keaton to Kurosawa, from westerns to nouvelle vague. Conrad explores the medium’s relationship to speed, technology, fantasy, horror, dream, color, sound, light, and shadow with reference to scores of films, from the earliest nineteenth-century silent experiments to the latest multisensory Hollywood blockbusters. The author’s insights are amplified by voices from inside and outside the industry: directors and critics are included alongside artists, writers, philosophers, and historians ranging from Leo Tolstoy to Salvador Dalí, Theodor Adorno to Philip Roth. Arranged by topics, such as “Meta-Movie” and “The Physics of Film,” rather than chronological events, The Mysteries of Cinema focuses on film’s otherworldly, hypnotic, and magical qualities. Perfect for both movie fans who will discover new films and directors, and for students of film who will see familiar classics in a new light, this volume is full of unique insights into the genre. Combining his vast knowledge with a forensic eye for a director’s every quirk and mannerism, Conrad offers a fascinating and thrilling exploration of film.

Nabarun Bhattacharya

Author :
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN 13 : 9388630513
Total Pages : 352 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (886 download)

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Book Synopsis Nabarun Bhattacharya by :

Download or read book Nabarun Bhattacharya written by and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2020-09-30 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The book aims to introduce the Bengali writer (1948-2014) to a global audience through some of his short stories and poems in English translation and a series of critical essays on his works. A political commitment to literature frames Nabarun Bhattacharya's aesthetic project and the volume wishes to tease out the various perspectives on this complex meeting of politics and aesthetics. Be it the novel on dogs or those on petro-pollution and the machine, the political question in Nabarun echoes significant contemporary issues, such as animal rights, global warming and techno-capitalism. This opens up the possibility of questioning the traditional paradigm of humanist values in a world of catastrophic and violent encounters such as nuclear war or holocaust, which keeps returning in Nabarun's works.

Reef Madness

Author : Ernest Hunter
Publisher : ETT Imprint
ISBN 13 : 1922698288
Total Pages : 485 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (226 download)

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Book Synopsis Reef Madness by : Ernest Hunter

Download or read book Reef Madness written by Ernest Hunter and published by ETT Imprint. This book was released on 2022-06-01 with total page 485 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It's a tale that doesn't seem like it would be a winner; an improbable proposition of a ten-mile reef of gold in the middle of the continent, a cabal of scheming investors, a farrago of poor planning and preposterous publicity, the fiasco of the prematurely celebrated triumph of technology over unforgiving terrain, a dead prospector - and no gold. The Central Australian Gold Exploration Company had it all, and Lasseter's Last Ride was in the stores before the final chapter of the real-life debacle had closed. It was a runaway success. Angus and Robertson sold three million copies of Ion Idriess' sixty-some books before he died in 1979. But in 1931, as he was working on what would be Lasseter's Last Ride, he was looking for an angle. In filling the gaps between the few facts with detailed descriptions of lands and people he had never seen, he found it - and promoted it - in Magic and Mystery. Idriess' fictional account of the last months of the life of Harold Bell Lasseter gave birth to a legend that has repeated in dozens of books, films, poems, podcasts, websites and exhibitions, is memorialised in the names of a highway and a casino, and has spawned searches and scams that continue nearly a century later. Idriess was probably surprised at its success and chose not to tamper with a winning formula when inconvenient material soon emerged. To do that he had to control the evidence and continued to insist on his narrative's unimpeachable adherence to fact. Reef Madness exposes how Idriess confected his first successful book and why the story of a failed prospector became a quintessentially Australian myth.

The Essay At the Limits

Author : Mario Aquilina
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN 13 : 135013449X
Total Pages : 264 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (51 download)

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Book Synopsis The Essay At the Limits by : Mario Aquilina

Download or read book The Essay At the Limits written by Mario Aquilina and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2021-04-08 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the hands of such writers as Rebecca Solnit, Claudia Rankine, David Shields, Zadie Smith and many others, the essay has re-emerged as a powerful literary form for tackling a fractious 21st-century culture. The Essay at the Limits brings together leading scholars to explore the theory, the poetics and the future of the form. The book links the formal innovations and new voices that have emerged in the 21st-century essay to the history and theory of the essay. In so doing, it surveys the essay from its origins to its relation to contemporary cultural forms, from the novel to poetry, film to music, and from political articles to intimate lyrical expressions. The book examines work by writers such as: Theodor W. Adorno, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Francis Bacon, James Baldwin, Roland Barthes, Maurice Blanchot, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Annie Dillard, Brian Dillon, Jean Genet, William Hazlitt, Samuel Johnson, Karl Ove Knaussgaard, Ben Lerner, Audre Lorde, Oscar Wilde, Michel de Montaigne, Zadie Smith, Rebecca Solnit, Wallace Stevens, Eliot Weinberger and Virginia Woolf.

People Power: Fighting for Peace from the First World War to the Present

Author : Lyn Smith
Publisher : Thames & Hudson
ISBN 13 : 0500773947
Total Pages : 256 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (7 download)

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Book Synopsis People Power: Fighting for Peace from the First World War to the Present by : Lyn Smith

Download or read book People Power: Fighting for Peace from the First World War to the Present written by Lyn Smith and published by Thames & Hudson. This book was released on 2017-04-18 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A compelling look at war and the antiwar movement in the United Kingdom People Power charts the history of the antiwar movement in the United Kingdom from the outbreak of the First World War to present-day conflicts in the Middle East, telling the story of conscientious objectors and others who have been engaged in protest over the past century. Drawing on testimonies from the Imperial War Museum’s vast collection of recordings and documents, the book gives voice to contributors from different backgrounds and explores their wide-ranging reasons for opposing war, as well as the changes and continuity in the movement throughout these years of almost continuous conflict. The book explores the role of key organizations within the movement and tells the personal stories of high-profile individuals, including Sylvia Pankhurst, A. A. Milne, and Vanessa Redgrave, who stood out against conflict. Accompanying a major exhibition at the Imperial War Museum London in 2017, People Power provides an important and compelling look at the most divisive of human undertakings and is an essential part of understanding war as it exists today.

Mastering Primary Geography

Author : Anthony Barlow
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1474295509
Total Pages : 264 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (742 download)

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Book Synopsis Mastering Primary Geography by : Anthony Barlow

Download or read book Mastering Primary Geography written by Anthony Barlow and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2019-06-27 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mastering Primary Geography introduces the primary geography curriculum and helps trainees and teachers learn how to plan and teach inspiring lessons that make learning geography irresistible. Topics covered include: · Current developments in geography · Geography as an irresistible activity · Geography as a practical activity · Skills to develop in geography · Promoting curiosity · Assessing children in geography · Practical issues This guide includes examples of children's work, case studies, readings to reflect upon and reflective questions that all help to show students and teachers what is considered to be best and most innovative practice, and how they can use that knowledge in their own teaching to the greatest effect. The book draws on the experience of two leading professionals in primary geography, Anthony Barlow and Sarah Whitehouse, to provide the essential guide to teaching geography for all trainee and qualified primary teachers.

Forms of Enchantment: Writings on Art and Artists

Author : Marina Warner
Publisher : Thames & Hudson
ISBN 13 : 0500774439
Total Pages : 383 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (7 download)

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Book Synopsis Forms of Enchantment: Writings on Art and Artists by : Marina Warner

Download or read book Forms of Enchantment: Writings on Art and Artists written by Marina Warner and published by Thames & Hudson. This book was released on 2018-10-23 with total page 383 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An anthology of enlightening writing by an award-winning critic that engages with art in its social, political, and aesthetic contexts. Art writing at its most useful should share the dynamism, fluidity, and passions of the objects of its enquiry, argues author Marina Warner in this new anthology. Here, some of Warner’s most compelling writing captures the visual experience of the work of a diverse group of artists—with a notable focus on the inner lives of women—through an exploration of the range of stories and symbols to which they allude in their work. Warner vividly describes this imagery, covering the connection with animals in the work of Louise Bourgeois, the Catholicism of Damien Hirst, performance as a medium of memory in the installations of Joan Jonas, and more. Rather than drawing on connoisseurship, Warner’s approach grows principally out of anthropology and mythology. Accompanied by illustrations of the works being described, Marina Warner’s writing unites the imagination of artist, writer, and reader, creating a reading experience that parallels the intrinsic pleasure of looking at art. This book will appeal to any student of art history, those interested in philosophy, feminism, and more generally in the humanities.

The Routledge Handbook of Place

Author : Tim Edensor
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 042984218X
Total Pages : 850 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (298 download)

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Book Synopsis The Routledge Handbook of Place by : Tim Edensor

Download or read book The Routledge Handbook of Place written by Tim Edensor and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-05-26 with total page 850 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The handbook presents a compendium of the diverse and growing approaches to place from leading authors as well as less widely known scholars, providing a comprehensive yet cutting-edge overview of theories, concepts and creative engagements with place that resonate with contemporary concerns and debates. The volume moves away from purely western-based conceptions and discussions about place to include perspectives from across the world. It includes an introductory chapter, which outlines key definitions, draws out influential historical and contemporary approaches to the theorisation of place and sketches out the structure of the book, explaining the logic of the seven clearly themed sections. Each section begins with a short introductory essay that provides identifying key ideas and contextualises the essays that follow. The original and distinctive contributions from both new and leading authorities from across the discipline provide a wide, rich and comprehensive collection that chimes with current critical thinking in geography. The book captures the dynamism and multiplicity of current geographical thinking about place by including both state-of-the-art, in-depth, critical overviews of theoretical approaches to place and new explorations and cases that chart a framework for future research. It charts the multiple ways in which place might be conceived, situated and practised. This unique, comprehensive and rich collection will be an essential resource for undergraduate and graduate teaching, for experienced academics across a wide range of disciplines and for policymakers and place-marketers. It will provide an invaluable and up-to-date guide to current thinking across the range of disciplines, such as Geography, Sociology and Politics, and interdisciplinary fields such as Urban Studies, Environmental Studies and Planning.

How The World Was Won: The Americanization of Everywhere

Author : Peter Conrad
Publisher : Thames & Hudson
ISBN 13 : 0500772274
Total Pages : 288 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (7 download)

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Book Synopsis How The World Was Won: The Americanization of Everywhere by : Peter Conrad

Download or read book How The World Was Won: The Americanization of Everywhere written by Peter Conrad and published by Thames & Hudson. This book was released on 2014-12-09 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From politics and war, to jeans and sneakers: a look at America’s influence on the world from an international perspective On the day after 9/11, foreign newspapers ran headlines announcing “We Are All Americans Now.” Though the sentiment was not new, it was also not quite the same as when Henry Luce announced in 1941, the inauguration of what he called “the American Century,” during which the US was to raise all men “from the level of the beasts to what the Psalmist calls a little lower than angels.” When America suddenly emerged as a global power in the postwar period, the world—with pockets of resistance from France, Russia, and Japan in particular—was happy to be remade in the US image. America dazzled, and sometimes intimidated, older, staler, less innovative cultures. The affluence it placed on display was something to which most other countries aspired, and it was this fantasy that helped win the Cold War. Fast forward to today and the Chinese state news agency Xinhua, days before a possible financial default by the US government, calling for a de-Americanized world. A context for Peter Conrad’s grand tale is, inevitably, politics, war, and commerce, but for the most part he draws on his brilliant repertoire of cultural skills to assess, surprise, invigorate, and delight us with his kaleidoscopic presentation of the movies and music, jeans and sneakers, food and refrigerators, novels and paintings that have shaped so much of the world in our lifetimes.

Verdi and/or Wagner: Two Men, Two Worlds, Two Centuries

Author : Peter Conrad
Publisher : Thames & Hudson
ISBN 13 : 0500771448
Total Pages : 384 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (7 download)

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Book Synopsis Verdi and/or Wagner: Two Men, Two Worlds, Two Centuries by : Peter Conrad

Download or read book Verdi and/or Wagner: Two Men, Two Worlds, Two Centuries written by Peter Conrad and published by Thames & Hudson. This book was released on 2011-11-07 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An exploration of the lives and works of Verdi and Wagner as well as their respective legacies to the present day, written by a noted cultural critic. This is the first book to compare these two composers and cultural heroes, both of whom were born in 1813 and achieved huge national and inter- national renown in their lifetimes. Yet not only did they never meet, but the differences between them—in music, culture, environment, significance, and legacy—were profound. Peter Conrad begins his tale in a public park in Venice, home to a pair of statues of the composers that are positioned so as to appear to shun each other. This provides a fitting starting point for his argument that they represent two opposite yet equally integral and compelling dimensions of European culture: north versus south, cerebral versus sensual, proud solitude versus human connection, epic mythmaking versus humane magnanimity. The book is a richly argued tour de force that engages passionately and profoundly with music, biography, history, politics, philosophy, psychology, and culture in the broadest sense. As Conrad concludes, “At one time or another, if not simultaneously, we still need the two contradictory, complementary kinds of music that Verdi and Wagner left us.”

How the World Was Won

Author : Peter Conrad
Publisher : National Geographic Books
ISBN 13 : 0500252084
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (2 download)

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Book Synopsis How the World Was Won by : Peter Conrad

Download or read book How the World Was Won written by Peter Conrad and published by National Geographic Books. This book was released on 2014-12-09 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From politics and war, to jeans and sneakers: a look at America’s influence on the world from an international perspective On the day after 9/11, foreign newspapers ran headlines announcing “We Are All Americans Now.” Though the sentiment was not new, it was also not quite the same as when Henry Luce announced in 1941, the inauguration of what he called “the American Century,” during which the US was to raise all men “from the level of the beasts to what the Psalmist calls a little lower than angels.” When America suddenly emerged as a global power in the postwar period, the world—with pockets of resistance from France, Russia, and Japan in particular—was happy to be remade in the US image. America dazzled, and sometimes intimidated, older, staler, less innovative cultures. The affluence it placed on display was something to which most other countries aspired, and it was this fantasy that helped win the Cold War. Fast forward to today and the Chinese state news agency Xinhua, days before a possible financial default by the US government, calling for a de-Americanized world. A context for Peter Conrad’s grand tale is, inevitably, politics, war, and commerce, but for the most part he draws on his brilliant repertoire of cultural skills to assess, surprise, invigorate, and delight us with his kaleidoscopic presentation of the movies and music, jeans and sneakers, food and refrigerators, novels and paintings that have shaped so much of the world in our lifetimes.