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Description of  When Cowboys Come Home: Veterans, Authenticity, and Manhood in Post World War II America

When Cowboys Come Home: Veterans, Authenticity, and Manhood in PostWorld War II America is a cultural and intellectual history of the 1950s that argues that World War II led to a breakdown of traditional markers of manhood and opened space for veterans to reimagine what masculinity could mean. One particularly important strand of thought, which influenced later anxieties over other-direction and conformity, argued that masculinity was not defined by traits like bravery, stoicism, and competitiveness but instead by authenticity, shared camaraderie, and emotional honesty. To elucidate this challenge to traditional frontiersman masculinity, Aaron George presents three intellectual biographies of important veterans who became writers after the war: James Jones, the writer of the monumentally important war novel Read more