A Global History of Americanization

A history of how American society and culture spread around the world from the 18th century, arguing that the construction of the nation and the expansion of its ideas and practices were intertwined processes.

How and why did the United States, a young nation born just 250 years ago, come to occupy such a central role across the world? From McDonalds in India, Hollywood in Japan, comic books in Australia, basketball in the Philippines and jazz in Scandinavia, America’s influence is felt throughout the globe. This book offers a full history of this process of Americanisation, the ambition and means to shine on a global scale, and shows how the United States simultaneously created a nation and an empire.

With roots stretching back to the 18th century and the Wars of Independence, Ludovic Tournes argues that American society and culture was constructed and exported in a single process. With examples such as the spread of jazz, Cold War diplomacy, the internationalisation of Coca-Cola, the Fordist revolution and the export of democracy, this book shows how American exports have reconfigured the world economically, politically and culturally. Following its transformation over the 19th and 20th centuries, A Global History of Americanisation follows the story of how American society and culture spread both at home and abroad, illustrates how the American dream took shape on a global scale throughout the 20th century, and asks why it has begun to fade in the 21st.