American Science Fiction and the Cold War

American science fiction has played a key role in the portrayal of the fears inherent in the Cold War. Working through a series of important texts, David Seed investigates the political inflections put on American narratives in the post-war decades by Cold War cultural circumstances. Nuclear holocaust, Russian invasion, and the perceived rise of totalitarianism in American society are key elements in the author's exploration of science fiction narratives which include Fahrenheit 451, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and Dr. Strangelove. The author's approach draws on the significant body of nuclear criticism and the historicism of Hayden White and others in order to bring out the ideological tensions and urgencies in this fiction.