This volume serves as an invaluable guide to key political, social, and cultural concepts of the 1950s.

This volume covers the entire decade of the 1950s, from the uneasy peace following World War II to the beginnings of cultural discontent that would explode in the 1960s. It highlights key historical, social, and cultural elements of the period, including the Cold War and perceived communist threat; the birth of the middle class and establishment of consumer culture; the emergence of the civil rights movement; and the normalization of youth rebellion and rock and roll.

An introduction presents the historical themes of the period, and an alphabetical encyclopedic entries relating to period-specific themes comprises the core reference material in the book. The book also contains a range of primary documents with introductions and a sample Documents Based Essay Question. Other features are a list of "Top Tips" for answering Documents Based Essay Questions, a thematically tagged chronology, and a list of specific learning objectives readers can use to gauge their working knowledge and understanding of the period.