Content area
Full Text
(ProQuest: ... denotes non-US-ASCII text omitted.)
David Milne's absorbing new book puts Walt W. Rostow exactly where he belongs - front and center among the leading architects of the long American war in Vietnam. Over the past decade, scholars have devoted new attention to the intellectual history and political impact of post-1945 theories of Third World modernization. Milne makes a vital contribution to that literature by exploring the career of a most influential figure. According to Milne, Rostow's professional trajectory reflects a consistent belief in the power of economic development as a crucial social lever. From his work selecting German targets for Allied bombing, through his scholarship as an MIT economist, his service in the Kennedy State Department, and finally his powerful role as national security adviser to Lyndon Johnson, Rostow envisioned...