Inventing Elvis

Inventing Elvis by Mathias Haeussler examines how Elvis Presley, perhaps the supreme icon of 20th-century U.S. culture, was initially seen as deeply un-American. His controversial adaptation of rhythm and blues music and gyrating on-stage performances sent shockwaves through Eisenhower’s conservative America and far beyond.

This book explores Presley’s global transformation from a teenage rebel figure into one of the U.S.’s major pop-cultural embodiments from a historical perspective. It illustrates how his rise was part of an emerging transnational youth culture whose political impact was heavily influenced by the Cold War.

Additionally, the book analyses Presley’s time as a G.I. soldier in West Germany, where he acted as an informal ambassador for the so-called American way of life and was turned into a deeply patriotic figure almost overnight. However, it also suggests that Presley’s identity, increasingly synonymous with U.S. culture, ultimately proved to be a double-edged sword. The excesses of his superstardom and personal decline seemed to vindicate long-held stereotypes about the allegedly materialistic nature of U.S. society.

Tracing Presley’s story from his unlikely rise in the 1950s right up to his tragic death in August 1977, Inventing Elvis offers a compelling account of changing U.S. identities during the Cold War. It sheds fresh light on the powerful role of popular music and consumerism in shaping images of the United States during the cultural struggle between East and West.