MSU’s Thompson garners national acclaim with LA Times book prize selection

Contact: Sarah Nicholas

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Mississippi State’s Joseph M. Thompson, an assistant professor in the Department of History, has been named a finalist for the 45th annual Los Angeles Times book prize in the history category.

Thompson’s book “Cold War Country: How Nashville’s Music Row and the Pentagon Created the Sound of American Patriotism,” is one of only five selected nationwide for this prestigious recognition.

Published in 2024 by the University of North Carolina Press, “Cold War Country” explores the deep ties between country music and the U.S. military, revealing how the Pentagon and Nashville’s music industry collaborated to shape popular perceptions of patriotism. Featuring stars like Roy Acuff, Elvis Presley and George Strait, the book uncovers how these connections influenced race relations, political partisanship and America’s global image.

“I’m so honored that the judges for the history category chose “Cold War Country” among the four other excellent titles this year,” Thompson said. “My book reveals the economic story behind the country music industry’s politics and its support for the U.S. military, and I think those perhaps unexpected connections are what has drawn readers to my work.”

While country music is often associated with patriotism through artists like Lee Greenwood and Toby Keith, Thompson’s research reveals a broader and more complex relationship. He demonstrates that during the early Cold War, the Department of Defense partnered with the country music industry to create recruitment programs and market the genre to service members. This collaboration provided financial opportunities for Nashville, Tennessee, while reinforcing country music’s alignment with political conservatism.

“My research shows that country music’s patriotism is not just a product of artists’ personal beliefs but the result of a decades-long partnership with the Pentagon. This economic relationship helped shape the genre’s political identity and its support for the U.S. military,” Thompson said. “It’s gratifying to see ‘Cold War Country’ recognized by the Los Angeles Times after years of research and writing.”

Thompson has pieced together this history through extensive research in musical and military archives. He spent months at the National Archives, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and the Country Music Hall of Fame, examining records that documented Nashville’s financial and ideological ties to the Department of Defense.

Thompson will attend the April 25 prize presentation which precedes the LA Times Festival of Books.

For more information about MSU’s College of Arts and Sciences or the Department of History, visit www.cas.msstate.edu or www.history.msstate.edu.

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