The Best War Ever: America and World War II [Paperback]

 

 

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I had to read this for my history class. It reads like a freshman paper, but longer.

It's riddled with typos, downplays Hitler's role in the war, argues concentration camps were a normal way of dealing with 'criminal' aspects in society (whoops, didnt realize all those people were criminals!), cites holocaust deniers and revionists to back those claims up, and uses the words 'justifiably' and 'legitimately' without further explanation.

Adams makes claims like he's the first to tell me when everyone knows about PTSD and Hiroshima by now. He is writing a revisionist history and usually those revising history (and any historian for that matter...) know better than to use phrases like "The truth is.." The whole point of history and alternate histories is that there is NO concrete truth, and one can't just go around proclaiming something as the TRUE cause for something else, when these things are open to interpretation.

In general this book has poor organization and is very boring to read, and is only made worse by the shaky ground Adams bases his arguments on. He references sources such as "some feminists" or "one infantryman" as the sole support for bold and sweeping claims.

I'm extremely interested in alternate discourses on history, and demythologizing the past...as long as these works are intelligent and well-researched and documented. One more example of poor writing before I go .. at one point Adams tells us that "One state experienced a 17 percent increase" in high school dropouts during the war. WHAT STATE??? How hard can it be to give that kind of information? Don't waste your time here.

Much of the events of WWII has been mythologized not only by Hollywood and government propaganda, and over the years this mythology has been perpetuated by those who lived through the war themselves. Michael C. C. Adams has sought to expose these stories for what they are, fabrication and oversimplifications, and provide the basic facts that facilitate a truer understanding of WWII and the world wide cultural changes surrounding it, both before and after the war itself.
In chapter one, "Mythmaking and the War", Adams sets out the myth itself, as defined by Hollywood dramatization, government propaganda, advertisement agencies, and the revised memories of those who stayed home, as well as those who fought in the war itself. The war became "America's golden age, a peak in the life of society when every thing worked out and the good guys definitely got a happy ending." (Adams, 2) The WWII era came to serve a purpose; to be the bygone age which America once was, and if worked hard enough for, could be again. It was, in a sense, America's Garden of Eden, the time and place where all things were right. Of course, this was a manufactured ideal, what Adams calls a "usable past." "In creating a usable past, we seek formulas to apply in solving today's problems. Americans believe that WWII proved one rule above all others...it is usually better to fight than to talk." (Adams, 4) "To make WWII into the best war ever, we must leave out the area bombings and other questionable aspects while exaggerating the good things. The war myth is distorted not so much in what it says as in what it doesn't say." (Adams, 7) This applies not only to the war itself, but also to the home front.
Chapter two, "No Easy Answers," begins the process of deconstructing the myth, and demonstrating that the events leading up to WWII began long before the Treaty of Versailles, and the ramifications of WWII will last much longer than the generation that fought it. Adams lays out the frame of the complex political, cultural and economic histories of each of nations which would become involved in WWII, and shows that there was no obvious point at which one decision would have prevented the war from happening. Taken in context, the actions each nation took leading up to WWII make sense. Adams asks, what could have been done differently? Apparently, not much; appeasement didn't work in Europe, and determent didn't work in Asia. There really were no easy answers.
Chapter three, "The Patterns of War, 1939-1945" lays out the way in which each nation fought the war, with a new speed and brutality made possible by technology and the remoteness of the enemy. Chapter four, "The American War Machine," demonstrates how the tools were created and sent into battle, and how the soldiers and organization of each army differed, for better or worse. Chapter five, "Overseas," outlines the realities of life for the American soldier both in the European and Pacific theatres, while chapter six, "Home front Changes," does the same for those who stayed home. These chapters have one unifying purpose; to define the reality of the WWII era, expose the complex history and actors, and above all, disabuse us of the reigning WWII mythos. Chapter seven, "A New World," takes us one step further and debunks the myth that returning GIs readjusted quickly with out lasting physical ailments and emotional traumas and into a society awaiting them with open arms, friendly smiles and loving families.

Above all else, Adams has provided an interesting and easily accessible framework with which one can examine WWII and appreciate the complexities and realities of the era. While his history is intentionally brief and uncomplicated by example and detail, it does achieve its purpose. By identifying the mythos and realities of WWII, the "Good War" can be appreciated for what it actually was; an ugly, brutal and ultimately necessary war.

The Best War Ever was written to combat the images which surfaced in the 70's about the war. Adams argued the media and servicemen glorified the war in the minds of Americans. Our troops were kind and generous, well ordered and glad to fight. No one avoided the draft. Men mingled in the trenches and found friends among other races. Men thought the war had meaning and purpose. Adams goes through systematically and bebunks these myths. Most soldiers were not kind, but became hardened to death. When soldiers took Japanese prisoners, they killed them brutally out of hatred and revenge. Men raped women, killed little children and looted houses. Men lived in filthy conditions, lived among dead bodies for weeks and despaired of ever coming home. Many resorted to homosexual or erotic activity. They could not find meaning in the war. Many in the United States got married or had children to avoid the draft. Of those were were drafted only 20 percent ever served in battle, and only half of those who served ever fired a gun or saw the enemy. This meant 80 percent were behind desks or in communications. It was them who told the wonderful stories of glory and courage. Men in the trenches seldom told their stories due to trauma. Races were segregated and black units often never saw battle. All these realities argue against the John Wayne Hollywood WWII hero. Adams is a masterful story teller; the book is well written and entertaining. The newer generation has always been exposed to these attrocities and realitites due to the change in how the War was taught. This book is written to inform those who still think it was the best war ever.

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