Regents Professor of History, Ferenc Morton Szasz taught at the University of New Mexico for forty-three years. Renowned for his wide-ranging interests, in his teaching and scholarship he focused on American social and intellectual history, thereby embracing the history of American religion, World War II, and the Atomic Age. The Day the Sun Rose Twice: The Story of the Trinity Nuclear Site Explosion, July 16, 1945 remains one of his most popular books.
"This volume proves that 'small is beautiful' and can be
significant. In only 136 pages, the late Szasz provides a
fascinating account of the depiction of atomic warfare and energy
in US and Japanese comics and cartoons. Some of what Szasz reveals
is downright scary: the extreme censorship of WW II and the
devastating impacts of American nuclear testing and failures. The
inclusion of small press comics such as Leonard Rifas's EduComics
testifies to the comprehensive nature of this book. Summing Up:
Highly recommended. All readers."
--Choice magazine; Outstanding Academic Title in 2012 "Charming and
sophisticated . . . One might view Atomic Comics through many
lenses. To some degree, the book fits in the 'researcher studies
pop culture' category, but it is much too entertainingly--even at
times, wryly--written to consign to the academic corner of the
library."
--Bulletin of Atomic Scientists "Atomic Comics is well worth
reading for those who want to know more about how the Atomic Age
impacted the American imagination."
--Rain Taxi "Reading Atomic Comics reminded me of the reasons why I
enjoy smart history and historians who draw meaningful conclusions
from their research."
--ISLE "...Atomic Comics: Cartoonists Confront the Nuclear World is
a seminal work identifying the perspective that cartoonists brought
to nuclear issues that was to prove enduringly influential upon
public opinion--an influence that continues to be felt to this very
day."
--Midwest Book Review "An immensely readable survey of how comic
books have sowed fear and excitement ... clearly written and free
of the jargon one might expect from an academic press."
--Pat Padua in blogcritcs.org, 8/15/12 "... Atomic Comics is a
useful text, serving as a lucid introduction to the various
intersections of popular culture and social issues during the Cold
War. In a more general sense, it clearly identifies the ways all
manner of popular cultural forms express the ideological conditions
of their historical moment, thus serving as a succinct introduction
to the study of popular culture and history. Szasz's prose is
accessible and jargon-free, friendly to both undergraduate and
general readers and the text is filled with images of the works he
describes. It could fruitfully appear on undergraduate syllabi in
American studies, history, and popular culture courses."
--H-Net Reviews "Atomic Comics is the 2013 winner of the ALA's
"Choice Outstanding Academic Title" award. I read it in almost
one sitting, and if this book is any indication of academic
writing, then we'd all be reading nothing but academic titles. . .
. Although we've been living in the atomic age for more than
seventy years, many of us are woefully lacking in any clear
understanding of what the atom is all about. Szasz is less
interested in educating the reader about the atom than in telling
us about the role comic books played in a dedicated effort to
bring the atomic age, in both fiction and nonfiction, into the
hands of the public - and he does a bang- up job. . . . Szasz
writes with an atomic power all his own. This is not a big book
(163 pages, text and notes), but he takes the history of the comic
book all the way from its beginning to the twenty- first century
with its atomic events, good and bad. The industry's eagerness to
educate and entertain in all things atomic will leave readers
wishing Szasz had written more. The index alone is worth the price
of admission."
--Bookin' with Sunny "An excellent resource, as informative and
entertaining as one could wish for."
--blogcritics.org, 7/30/13
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