Jeff Woods's new study is an intriguing look at an important dissenting view on U.S. foreign policy during the 1940s and 1950s. Due partly to a white supremacist ideology that blinded him to larger political realities, Russell, a prominent Senator from Georgia, called for significantly expanding the U.S. military arsenal. This was not to aid the internationalist aim of spreading ... Read moreAmerican values and institutions but in order to defend the nation itself. In our contemporary era of American war-making, Woods's fine narrative recounting the career of Russell's hawkish nationalism makes for particularly interesting and provocative reading.
Tim Borstelmann, author of The Cold War and the Color Line: American Race Relations in the Global Arena Woods' nicely balanced study provides a helpful background, even as Russell's southern successors, now Republicans, seem to have switched sides.
Foreign Affairs
In this insightful review of Russell's role in U.S. foreign policy, Jeff Woods makes a strong case for the inclusion of the senator in this series.
Journal of Southern History
Jeff Woods addresses the intriguing topic of how southern history shaped the foreign policy views of Richard Russell, the prominent U.S. senator from Georgia. Woods saves his best for last in his coverage of the Georgian and the Vietnam War in the final two chapters. The variety of sources consulted is another strong point of the book. Richard B. Russell is a worthwhile read for anyone interested in southern politics and the Cold War.
Georgia Historical Quarterly
Careful in both research and writing, Woods shows the strengths as well as the weaknesses of a ‘traditional’ southern approach to world affairs in the 20th century, a type of analysis hard to find: while most of his compatriots slowly became 'Americanized,' Russell persisted in his southernism.
Tennant McWilliams, author of The New South Faces the World: Foreign Affairs and the Southern Sense of Self, 1877–1950 Show Less