Table of Contents

Introduction Politics in the American Science-Fiction Novel, 1946-1964: Science Fiction as Social Criticism The Beginning or the End?: Post-Holocaust Novels and Films, 1946-1964 We're There and They're Here!: Space Exploration and Alien Invasion Films of the Long 1950s The Creature from the Cold War: Science-Fiction Monster Movies of the Long 1950s References Index

Promotional Information

Studies the engagement of American science fiction novels and films of the long 1950s with their historical and political contexts, the rise of late capitalism, and the birth of postmodernism.

About the Author

M. Keith Booker is Professor of English at the University of Arkansas.

Reviews

?[a]n impressive, enjoyable book, and one that makes valuable contributions to the history of American science fiction and to our understanding of the culture of the American 1950s. We should be grateful not only to Booker but also--and yet again!--to the much under-appreciated publishers of the Greenwood Press, whose long-time support of sf criticism is as admirable as it is generally unsung.?-Science Fiction Studies

?[M]onsters should be ordered for libraries and studied by those interested in SF of the post-World War 2 period and the significance of that SF for utopian studies....This is a coherent, generally well-written collection, arranged to offer a collective argument about tje role, or sometimes lack of role, of docters and medicine in SF.?-Utopian Studies

?The bibliographies of books and films are especially valuable....Highly recommended as a provocative examination of the interplay between creativity and cultural pressures, this title will stimulate other such discussions. All collections.?-Choice

?This is a book to appeal to the scholar of science fiction, the social historian, the movie nut, the student of popular culture-- and anyone else with an eye on why we do what we do, and how it shows up in our art. Highly recommended....?-Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts

"Ýa¨n impressive, enjoyable book, and one that makes valuable contributions to the history of American science fiction and to our understanding of the culture of the American 1950s. We should be grateful not only to Booker but also--and yet again!--to the much under-appreciated publishers of the Greenwood Press, whose long-time support of sf criticism is as admirable as it is generally unsung."-Science Fiction Studies

"ÝM¨onsters should be ordered for libraries and studied by those interested in SF of the post-World War 2 period and the significance of that SF for utopian studies....This is a coherent, generally well-written collection, arranged to offer a collective argument about tje role, or sometimes lack of role, of docters and medicine in SF."-Utopian Studies

"[M]onsters should be ordered for libraries and studied by those interested in SF of the post-World War 2 period and the significance of that SF for utopian studies....This is a coherent, generally well-written collection, arranged to offer a collective argument about tje role, or sometimes lack of role, of docters and medicine in SF."-Utopian Studies

"The bibliographies of books and films are especially valuable....Highly recommended as a provocative examination of the interplay between creativity and cultural pressures, this title will stimulate other such discussions. All collections."-Choice

"This is a book to appeal to the scholar of science fiction, the social historian, the movie nut, the student of popular culture-- and anyone else with an eye on why we do what we do, and how it shows up in our art. Highly recommended...."-Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts

"[a]n impressive, enjoyable book, and one that makes valuable contributions to the history of American science fiction and to our understanding of the culture of the American 1950s. We should be grateful not only to Booker but also--and yet again!--to the much under-appreciated publishers of the Greenwood Press, whose long-time support of sf criticism is as admirable as it is generally unsung."-Science Fiction Studies