Hans Krabbendam

Edward William Bok was the most famous Dutch-American in early twentieth-century America thanks to his thirty-year editorship of the Ladies’ Home Journal, the most prestigious women’s magazine of the day. This first complete coverage of Edward Bok’s life places him against his ethnic background and portrays him as the spokesman for and the molder of the American middle class between 1890 and 1930. He acted as a mediator between a Victorian and a modern society, reconciling consumerism with idealism. As a Dutch immigrant he became a model for successful adaptation to a new country and modern times. He used his national reputation to restore America’s internationalism in the 1920s. His life story is relevant to those interested in the history of immigration, journalism, the rise of big business, the women’s movement, and the Progressive Movement.

A Life of Edward William Bok, 1863-1930

The Model Man

Hans Bak

J. Verheul

Johannes Leendert Krabbendam

The essays in this volume discuss past, recent and future developments within American Studies as manifested in the United States and in various Western and Eastern European countries. Central is the question how different cultural backgrounds and traditions informed varying approaches to the discipline. Is American Studies a form of cultural self-reflection? This volume pursues this theme from a variety of angles.

American Studies in Transcultural Perspective

Through the Cultural Looking Glass

How American Protestant missionaries created a new worldwide religious network.

American Protestant Missions in Western Europe, 1940-1975

Saving the Overlooked Continent

American Biography and Autobiography

Writing Lives

Giles Scott-Smith

The idea of the Cold War as a propaganda contest as opposed to a military conflict is being increasingly accepted. This has led to a re-evaluation of the relationship between economic policies, political agendas and cultural activities in Western Europe post 1945. This book provides an important cross-section of case studies that highlight the connections between overt/covert activities and cultural/political agendas during the early Cold War. It therefore provides a valuable bridge between diplomatic and intelligence research and represents an important contribution towards our understanding of the significance and consequences of this linkage for the shaping of post-war democratic societies.

The Cultural Cold War in Western Europe, 1945-60

How American Protestant missionaries created a new worldwide religious network Among a wide spectrum of American Protestants, the horrors of World War II triggered grave concern for Europe’s religious future. They promptly mobilised resources to revive Europe’s Christian foundation. Saving the Overlooked Continent reconstructs this surprising redirection of Western missions. For the first time, Europe became the recipient of America’s missionary enterprise. The American missionary impulse matched the military, economic, and political programs of the U.S., all of which positioned the United States to become Europe’s dominant partner and point of cultural reference. One result was the importation of the internal conflicts that vexed American Protestants – theological tensions between modernists and traditionalists, and organisational competition between established churches and independent parachurch associations. Europe was offered a new slate of options that sparked civic and ecclesiastical responses. But behind these contending religious networks lay a considerable overlap of goals and means based on a shared missionary trajectory. By the mid-1960s, most Protestant American agencies admitted that the expectation of a religious revival had been too optimistic despite their initiatives having led to an integration of Europe in the global evangelical network. The agencies reconsidered their assumptions and redefined their strategies. The initial opposition between inclusive and exclusive approaches abated, and the path opened to a sustained cooperation among once-fierce opponents.

Cornelis A. van Minnen

A comprehensive history of bilateral relations between the Netherlands and the United States.

1609-2009

Four Centuries of Dutch-American Relations

Robert P. Swierenga

Larry J. Wagenaar

Essays in Honor of Robert P. Swierenga

The Dutch-American Experience

Wil Verhoeven

Is the present popularity of leadership studies an echo of the status of the U.S. as the leader of the free world, or is it hype created by smart entrepreneurs? Have current leadership concepts emerged from the democratic environment in America or do they reflect a globalist and timeless approach? How do leadership studies reflect national values, such as individualism and competition, success, commonly associated with American culture? An international group of scholars of American society seeks to answer these questions in this volume. They critically examine the terminology and the explanatory power of various leadership concepts. These essays show that the promises of "good" leadership to protect democratic processes against political and commercial exploitation are often too optimistic. Examples from military academies, state politics, marginal groups, and African American politicians dampen high expectations for new visionary political leadership in the United States.

Hans Krabbendam

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