National World War II Memorial - Books

The World War II Memorial: A Grateful Nation Remembers Douglas Brinkley From the Publisher: The stunning companion volume to America’s long-awaited WWII Memorial. Assuming its rightful place of honor on the National Mall between the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument, the World War II Memorial is an eloquent and moving tribute to "The Greatest Generation." Sixteen million Americans served in the armed forces—more than 400,000 gave their lives—and millions supported the war effort from home, all in the name of protecting that which we, as Americans, hold most dear: freedom. The World War II Memorial, published in conjunction with the dedication of this long-overdue memorial, commemorates the everyday Americans who in countless ways rose up to defeat one of history’s gravest threats to freedom. Veterans—including George H.W. Bush, Sen. Daniel Inouye, former senators Bob Dole and George McGovern, Yogi Berra, and many, many others—contribute their own personal stories while leading historians look at the military campaigns of the war. The memorial’s architect and its sculptor provide insights into how it symbolizes the fortitude and perseverance of a generation, and the exclusive photographs present the memorial through all stages of construction. Fittingly, this historic tribute falls in the 60th anniversary year of D-Day, a time when our nation once again reflects on its greatest sacrifice and greatest victory in the name of freedom. 100 color and 125 b-w photographs. Douglas Brinkley is the Director of the Eisenhower Center for American Studies at the University of New Orleans and author of Tour of Duty: John Kerry and the Vietnam War. From The Critics: Publishers WeeklyA fine companion to the PBS documentary on the memorial, this coffee-table volume begins and ends with useful histories and discussions of the memorial itself. In between are summaries from Brinkley (Tour of Duty: John Kerry and the Vietnam War, etc.) of land, sea and air campaigns, in Europe and the Pacific; of the home front, including war production and daily life; of women’s roles. Interspersed with the narratives are the personal tales of WWII veterans, including All-Star Pitcher Bob Feller, a battleship sailor; Audie Murphy, the most decorated American soldier; and a young Annapolis graduate who commanded a submarine at the end of the war, with a parallel tale by his wife. Well-chosen and well-reproduced period photographs are here in generous quantity, even if emphasizing the classics, as are photos of the memorial (by Richard Latoff). The war production of the Ford Motor Company (a sponsor of the volume and the TV special) gets significant space. The foreword by John S.D. Eisenhower states that for the U.S., the "impact of WWII lies chiefly on the effect it had on the Americans who lived through the period, especially those who participated, and the impact it had on American society." It does not mention the impact of the 405,399 U.S. deaths during the war, also commemorated by the memorial. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information. Library JournalA companion volume to the PBS documentary The World War II Memorial: A Testament to Freedom, this is an excellent addition to the literature, as its central theme is the memorial itself, recently dedicated in Washington, DC. The book begins with an account of the memorial, explaining its main elements and how it was conceived and built, and also offers comments from the designer and sculptor. The book then tells the story of the war as reflected in the memorial, with such chapters as "Victory at Sea" and "Victory in Europe," including women at war and the home front. Each chapter is written by a noted historian or author, e.g., Thomas Childers, Carlo D’Este, and Emily Yellin. The profusely illustrated text is nicely side-barred with interviews with veterans or civilians both well known and unknown, including Robert Dole, Daniel Inouye, Yogi Berra, and Margie Munn, a drill press operator. Highly recommended. David Lee Poremba, Detroit P.L. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information. List Price: $$39.95 Our Price: $27.96

Surprise, Security, and the American Experience John Lewis Gaddis From the Publisher: "September 11, 2001, the distinguished Cold War historian John Lewis argues, was not the first time a surprise attack shattered assumptions about national security and re-shaped American grand strategy. We’ve been there before, and have responded each time by dramatically expanding our security responsibilities." "The pattern began in 1814, when the British attacked Washington, burning the White House and the Capitol. This early violation of homeland security gave rise to a strategy of unilateralism and preemption, best articulated by John Quincy Adams, aimed at maintaining strength beyond challenge throughout the North American continent. It remained in place for over a century. Only when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941 did the inadequacies of this strategy become evident. As a consequence, Franklin D. Roosevelt devised a new grand strategy of cooperation with allies on an intercontinental scale to defeat authoritarianism. That strategy defined the American approach throughout World War II and the Cold War." The terrorist attacks of 9-11, Gaddis writes, made it clear that this strategy is now insufficient to ensure American security. The Bush administration has therefore devised a new grand strategy whose foundations lie in the nineteenth-century tradition of unilateralism, preemption, and hegemony, projected this time on a global scale. How successful it will be in the face of twenty-first-century challenges is the question that confronts us. This book, informed by the experiences of the past but focused on the present and the future, is one of the first attempts by a major scholar of international relations to provide an answer. From The Critics: The New York TimesWhen he looks to the future, Gaddis raises more questions than he answers, but he raises the right ones. One of these is whether the administration’s domestic policy is consistent with its grand strategy. Gaddis notes the contrast between Roosevelt’s call for national sacrifice to win World War II and Bush’s decision to place the burden of today’s wars only on those who do the fighting -- and on future generations that must pay the bills. One has to wonder whether the administration’s fiscal and energy policies are consistent with the goal of maintaining American global predominance. — Jack F. Matlock Jr.Publishers WeeklyThe post-September 11 strategy of the Bush administration is often described as a radical departure from U.S. policy. Gaddis, one of America’s leading scholars of foreign policy and international relations, provocatively demonstrates that, to the contrary, the principles of preemption, unilateralism and hegemony go back to the earliest days of the republic. Gaddis resurrects the 18th-century idea of an "empire of liberty": whether as a universal principle or in an American context, liberty could flourish only in an empire that provided safety. The British burning of Washington in 1814 highlighted American vulnerability to certain forms of surprise attack. In consequence, Gaddis recounts, John Quincy Adams developed a strategy of seeking control over the North American continent with minimal coercion, but through preemptive action where necessary. The attack on Pearl Harbor extended the concept to global dimensions, eventually expanding the U.S. sphere of influence exponentially. The events of September 11 extended the concept of preemptive action even at the expense of sovereignty when terrorism is involved. Gaddis describes this latest expansion of American power in response to surprise attack as a volatile mixture of prudence and arrogance. But instead of the usual caveats, he recommends the U.S. continue on an interventionist course, and he has no qualms about calling America the best hope of liberty in the eyes of most of the earth’s inhabitants. The ability to question all values that is liberty’s essence depends, he finds, on defending certain values-unilaterally and preemptively when necessary, but not randomly. This compact, provocative history of an idea-in-action has the potential to alter the U.S.’s collective self-image. (Mar.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information. Foreign AffairsThis book is a persuasive account of the Bush administration’s grand strategy and demonstrates the power of strategic analysis drawn from the American national experience. Most accounts of grand strategy draw on the abstractions of political science or the history of the post-Westphalian state system in Europe. Gaddis’ focus on U.S. foreign policy and history gives him powerful tools that he exploits to the fullest, elucidating the similarities between the strategies of John Quincy Adams and Franklin Roosevelt, which have shaped the evolution of U.S. power, and contrasting both with the emerging grand strategy of the Bush administration. Vulnerability is the key to all three strategies, Gaddis argues. The 1814 burning of Washington, D.C., by British forces, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and al Qaeda’s attacks on September 11 jolted Americans to reexamine their place in the world and, in each case, to expand their security frontiers and embrace a more ambitious foreign policy to deal with new threats. A strategy, Gaddis notes, may be grand without being successful, and he asks some tough questions about the validity of the assumptions on which the Bush strategy rests. How the United States can win international support (or at least consent) for a vigorous foreign policy in response to new and nontraditional threats is the question that troubles him most. He hints that a return to the principles of "federalism" may provide the answer. Perhaps. In any case, Surprise, Security, and the American Experience is a substantive accomplishment and a valuable contribution to the most important debates of our time. List Price: $$18.95 Our Price: $13.26

One Thousand Paper Cranes: Story of Sadako and the Children’s Peace Statue Ishii Takayuki From the Publisher: The inspirational story of the Japanese national campaign to build the Children’s Peace Statue honoring Sadako and hundreds of other children who died as a result of the bombing of Hiroshima.Ten years after the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, Sadako Sasaki died as a result of atomic bomb disease. Sadako’s determination to fold one thousand paper cranes and her courageous struggle with her illness inspired her classmates. After her death, they started a national campaign to build the Children’s Peace Statue to remember Sadako and the many other children who were victims of the Hiroshima bombing. On top of the statue is a girl holding a large crane in her outstretched arms. Today in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, this statue of Sadako is beautifully decorated with thousands of paper cranes given by people throughout the world. From The Critics: KLIATTThis story of a little girl named Sadako Sasaki and her death from what is called the Atomic Bomb Disease will tug at your heart and also terrify you, as it makes clear the horrible toll war takes on families. Sadako was two years old when an atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Her family suffered terribly but they managed to survive. Nine years later Sadako was an active girl who loved to run and go to school, but then she developed symptoms of leukemia and went downhill rapidly. While in the hospital she started folding paper cranes, wishing on them for better health. When she died at 12, she had folded over a thousand of these cranes. Her classmates sponsored a national campaign to build a memorial, and today in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park there is a statue with a girl on top holding a large crane. It is a memorial to all the children who died from the bombing at Hiroshima. This book about Sadako, a tribute to a little girl and her friends, is a reminder to all of us that war is a terrible thing. KLIATT Codes: J—Recommended for junior high school students. 1997, Random House-Dell Laurel-Leaf, 97p, illus, 18cm, $4.99. Ages 13 to 15. Reviewer: Barbara Jo McKee; Libn-Media Dir. Streetsboro H.S. Stow, OH, May 2001 (Vol. 35 No. 3) Our Price: $4.99

World War II Sites in the United States: A Tour Guide and Directory Richard E. Osborne From the Publisher: Part guidebook to the past, part directory of everything having to do with World War II, this book is a fascinating collection of sites and informational tidbits that will satisfy even the most hardcore military enthusiast. From the General Patton Memorial Museum in Chiriaco Summit, California, to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., individual states, museums, relocation camps, enemy attack sites and more are listed. Our Price: $19.95

Date Which Will Live: Pearl Harbor in American Memory Emily S. Rosenberg From the Publisher: December 7, 1941 -- the date of Japan’s surprise attack on the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor -- is "a date which will live" in American history and memory, but the stories that will live and the meanings attributed to them are hardly settled. In movies, books, and magazines, at memorial sites and public ceremonies, and on television and the Internet, Pearl Harbor lives in a thousand guises and symbolizes dozens of different historical lessons. In A Date Which Will Live, historian Emily S. Rosenberg examines the contested meanings of Pearl Harbor in American culture. Rosenberg considers the emergence of Pearl Harbor’s symbolic role within multiple contexts: as a day of infamy that highlighted the need for future U.S. military preparedness, as an attack that opened a "back door" to U.S. involvement in World War II, as an event of national commemoration, and as a central metaphor in American-Japanese relations. She explores the cultural background that contributed to Pearl Harbor’s resurgence in American memory after the fiftieth anniversary of the attack in 1991. In doing so, she discusses the recent "memory boom" in American culture; the movement to exonerate the military commanders at Pearl Harbor, Admiral Husband Kimmel and General Walter Short; the political mobilization of various groups during the culture and history "wars" of the 1990s, and the spectacle surrounding the movie Pearl Harbor. Rosenberg concludes with a look at the uses of Pearl Harbor as a historical frame for understanding the events of September 11, 2001. From The Critics: The Washington PostAmong other questions, Rosenberg asks how Pearl Harbor has fared over the years in print, film and "commemorative" media, as well as what it means to Japanese Americans. Noteworthy is her account of efforts to restore the good name of Adm. Husband Kimmel and Gen. Walter Short, on whose watches the bombing occurred and who, their supporters believe, were shortchanged by history. — Victorino Matus Our Price: $24.95

Their Last Battle: The Fight for the National World War II Mermorial Nicolaus Mills From the Publisher: "In 1987, Roger Durbin, a retired mail carrier and World War II veteran, asked his congresswoman a pointed question: "How come there’s no memorial to World War II in Washington?" From that simple question sprang the long quest to create the National World War II Memorial on the Mall in Washington. The struggle grew into a seventeen-year odyssey, beginning with a seemingly uncontroversial Congressional bill and culminating in the official opening on Memorial Day weekend in 2004." In Their Last Battle, Nicolaus Mills tells the definitive story of the monumental fight to make the memorial a reality. From arguments over its location to political stonewalling and criticism of its design, the memorial became a lightning rod for politicians, critics, veterans’ groups, and others who lined up either for or against it, even as the number of surviving World War II veterans dwindled with each year of delay. The memorial’s rocky progress to completion is a compelling story of Washington politics, but ultimately it reveals what public monuments can tell us about America and the values it honors. From The Critics: Thomas Childers - The Washington Post Mills is good at isolating the central issues and key players in the drama, and he gives all sides to the various disputes a fair hearing, but his sympathies are clearly with the project’s supporters. Indeed, following the twists and turns of the controversy, readers come to share the author’s obvious frustration as the project staggered from one board meeting to the next agency review to the subsequent public hearing and back again, while time was running out for a generation of Americans who, in the darkest days of the 20th century, fought and won a war to protect the very values on which the United States was founded. Library JournalFirst conceived by French-born architect Pierre Charles L’Enfant as a "public walk" designed to rival the grand vistas of Versailles and Paris, the National Mall has undergone many changes over the centuries. While it now enshrines much of America’s most cherished patriotic and civic heritage, fierce debate over how the mall should look and what it should signify has attended the construction of nearly all its memorials. Against this historical backdrop, Mills (history, Sarah Lawrence Coll.; editor, The New Killing Fields) chronicles the political, cultural, and architectural struggles surrounding the 16-year battle to establish the latest addition to the mall, the National World War II Memorial, which opens to the public May 29. Mills traces the memorial’s tangled legislative history and examines the heated clashes over the memorial’s ultimate placement and design. Readers who have the patience to follow the tortuous path of the memorial through a labyrinthine bureaucratic process will be rewarded with a deeper appreciation for the architectural and artistic achievements underpinning this long-overdue memorial. Recommended for all collections.-Edward Metz, Combined Arms Research Lib., Ft. Leavenworth, KS Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information. Kirkus ReviewsA richly detailed account of the ideas, politics, architecture, engineering, and construction of the controversial war memorial now rising on the Washington Mall. Mills (American Studies-Sarah Lawrence; The New Killing Fields, 2002, etc.) sheds his leftist skin in this balanced, definitive account of the journey from idea to building in the era of multiple constituencies, multiple governmental agencies, and multiple egos in need of perpetual massage. Like Brokaw, Ambrose, and others who have written about those who won WWII, the author is eager to confer upon them the title of our "greatest generation"; he believes, as well, that the WWII Memorial is a fitting tribute. Mills begins with a glance backward at the laying of the cornerstone for the Bunker Hill Monument in 1825 and then dives right into today’s troubled waters. He credits the late Roger Durbin, a WWII veteran, for animating Ohio Congresswoman Mary Kaptur to begin in 1987 the process of bringing another memorial to the Mall. He tells, as well, about the controversies surrounding the construction of the other principal structures in the area. In 1922, he reminds us, organizers of the dedication ceremony for the Lincoln Memorial saw fit to rope off one area for "colored" members of the audience. Mills’s prose occasionally plods. For some Gertrude Stein-ish reason he almost always refers to the structure by its full name, and sometimes his sentences sink with the weight of the detail ("Insisting that in favoring placement of the World War II Memorial at the Rainbow Pool, it had indeed paid attention to its own Cultural Landscape Report, the National Park Service answered Catherine Slater’s September 5 letter by quoting back theLandscape Report’s published guidelines"). Nonetheless, his work teaches us that all of the monuments, which now seem so permanent and appropriate, were once nothing more than ideas that annoyed myriads of people. Solid if dutifully written. (2 8-page photo inserts, not seen)Agent: Mildred Marmur-Mildred Marmur Associates Our Price: $26.00

Theaters of War: We Remember Wendy Phillips Phillips Lazar (Editor) From the Publisher: From torrid mosquito-infested islands of the South Pacific to forested snow-covered mountain passes in Europe, Theaters of War: We Remember is a vivid and dramatic document of World War II as seen through the eyes and told from the hearts of those who experienced it. It is an epic written narrative of events that changed the course of our history, transformed communities and nations, and altered lives forever. The American Battle Monuments Commission, the agency responsible for the design and creation of The National World War II Memorial in Washington, DC, has endorsed the project from its inception. Proceeds from Theaters of War: We Remember will be donated to the Memorial. Our Price: $19.95

From Monuments to Traces: Artifacts of German Memory, 1870-1990, Vol. 24 Rudy Koshar From the Publisher: Rudy Koshar constructs a powerful framework in which to examine the subject of German collective memory, which for more than a half century has been shaped by the experience of Nazism, World War II, and the Holocaust. Finding the assumptions of many writers and scholars shortsighted, Koshar surveys the evidence of postwar German memory in the context of previous traditions. From Monuments to Traces follows the evolution of German "memory landscapes" all the way from national unification in 1870-71 through the world wars and political division to reunification in 1990. The memory landscapes of any society may incorporate monuments, historical buildings, memorials and cemeteries, battlefields, streets, or natural environments that foster shared memories of important events or personalities. They may also be designed to divert public attention from embarrassing or traumatic histories. Koshar argues that in Germany, memory landscapes have taken shape according to four separate paradigms—the national monument, the ruin, the reconstruction, and the trace—which he analyzes in relation to the changing political agendas that have guided them over time. Despite the massive ruptures of Germany’s history, we see that significant continuities have served to counterbalance the traumas of the German past. About the Author: Rudy Koshar, DAAD Professor of German and European Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, is the author of Germany’s Transient Pasts (1998) and two other books. Our Price: $50.00

The Huaqiao Warriors: Chinese Resistance Movement in the Philippines 1942-45 Yung Li Yuk-Wai From the Publisher: Among the extremely limited English language literature on the Chinese resistance movement in the Philippines during the Japanese occupation, this book is unique in making use of documents from the United States National Archives, supplemented by memorials and articles recently published in China and the Philippines. While the reliability of these original sources is questionable, the difficulty of interpreting these sources was dealt with openly and effort was made to compare contradictory accounts objectively. Meanwhile, the characteristics of the Chinese resistance movement were summarized in its historical social context, and the long-term effect of the resistance movement on the Chinese community in the Philippines was addressed. The book thus fills an important gap in Philippine historiography on the Second World War and in the understanding of the Philippine Chinese community and the effect of Japanese occupation upon it. List Price: $$37.50 Our Price: $18.75

Unveiling of the National Icons: A Plea for Patriotic Iconoclasm in a Nationalist Era Albert Boime From the Publisher: In The Unveiling of the National Icons, Albert Boime analyzes the creation and reception of several American national monuments as a means of understanding the politics of memory and national icons. In engaging, behind the scenes accounts of several highly visible symbols, such as the American flag, the Statue of Liberty, and Mount Rushmore, among others, he demonstrates how these icons have been manipulated for patriotic purposes. Examining these symbols as a group for the first time, this book is also the first serious investigation of visual artifacts that are too often taken for granted. From The Critics: William E. Leuchtenburg - New York Times Book Review . . .Boime. . .indulges in psychological speculation that not everyone will find credible. . . .These rhetorical excesses are regrettable, for Boime is undeniably correct in saying that national icons often arise from self-interest and are meant to convey political messages. William E. Leuchtenburg. . .Boime. . .indulges in psychological speculation that not everyone will find credible. . . .These rhetorical excesses are regrettable, for Boime is undeniably correct in saying that national icons often arise from self-interest and are meant to convey political messages. -- The New York Times Book Review List Price: $$95.00 Our Price: $90.25