The 1950s: U.S.-Soviet Rivalry and the "Red Scare"

Arthur C. Clarke wrote "The Star" during a time of political and social unease. Both the "space race" and the "arms race" between the United States and the Soviet Union, were ongoing, fueled by cold war animosity between the two superpowers. Both countries were developing and testing newer and more destructive weapons, including the hydrogen bomb, in the aftermath of the atomic bombs used in 1945 against Japan.

Growing fear of Communism leads to the "red scare" in the U.S. A number of high-profile nuclear espionage cases, including that of the Rosenbergs in 1952, convince a portion of the American public and government that Communist infiltrators are potentially everywhere. Large numbers of writers and actors are blacklisted by publishers and Holly-wood movie studios after being accused of Communist Party membership or merely having Communist sympathies. Even U.S. atomic...