The Bonus Army
An American Epic
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- 14,99 €
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- 14,99 €
Beschreibung des Verlags
"The account by Dickson and Allen recalls the subliminal force of Let Us Now Praise Famous Men with gaunt stories of character at the limits of dignity." ― Taylor Branch, New York Review of Books
In the summer of 1932, 15,000 World War I veterans marched on Washington, D.C., demanding payment from the Herbert Hoover administration of the bonus promised to them eight years earlier for their wartime service. With the "bonus bill" defeated in the Senate, the U.S. Army, led by Army Chief of Staff Gen, Douglas MacArthur, deployed tanks in the capital to rout the protestors.
This highly praised account of the event is based on extensive research that includes interviews with the last surviving witnesses. Paul Dickson and Thomas B. Allen recapture the voices of former soldiers who dared to challenge the government and demand what they were denied. The authors trace the Bonus Army's history and discuss its far-reaching effects, including how it paved the way for the 1944 passage of the GI Bill of Rights, which transformed American society by creating the postwar middle class.
"A revealing and fascinating account. The book's most haunting aspect is its verbal and pictorial record of the marcher's individual experiences." ― Janet Maslin, The New York Times
"Exactly the kind of book publishers should be giving us more of ― responsible popular history, researched to the footnoted standards of the academy but written for the pleasure of general readers who are looking for a good story . . . A rewarding book." ― Kevin Coyne, Newsday
"A feat of research and analysis ― a thoughtful, strong argument that these marches were among the most important demonstrations of the 20th century." ― Bookmarks Magazine
"A lively, engaging work of history.” ― Kirkus Reviews
"A fascinating and readable book. Recommended." ― William D. Pederson, Library Journal
"As Dickson and Allen show throughout this empathetic and well-researched volume, [the Bonus Expeditionary Force] meant different things to a number of groups vying for power in the tumultuous political climate of the early '30s. Their important and moving work will appeal to both professional historians and casual readers interested in the history of America's changing attitudes toward its soldiers." ― Publishers Weekly
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Before the Million Man March, the Million Mom March or Martin Luther King, Jr.'s March on Washington, there was the Bonus Expeditionary Force (BEF): 45,000 WWI vets who, in 1932, swarmed Washington, D.C., in freight cars, crank-start jalopies, on motorcycles and even on foot from as far away as Portland, Ore., to demand payment of the bonus promised them at the end of the war. As Dickson and Allen show throughout this empathetic and well-researched volume, the BEF meant different things to a number of groups vying for power in the tumultuous political climate of the early '30s. Communist organizers saw the veterans as the shock troops of the emerging "American Soviet Government"; the Hoover administration viewed them as mostly "ex-convicts, persons with criminal records, radicals, and non-servicemen" trying to strong-arm the government; and corporate America saw them as competition for dwindling government aid money. To most Americans, however, they were underdogs fighting the government and the corporate corruption that, in their minds, was responsible for the Depression. The book moves beyond these broad generalizations to find the personal stories of the march, fleshing out both minor and major players surrounding the BEF. And in describing the use of tanks, bayonets and tear gas to expel the unarmed vets and their families from Washington-as well as the deadly mistreatment of BEF members in government work camps after the march-Dickson and Allen highlight the sacrifices these women and men made on our own soil to win fair treatment for veterans of future wars. Their important and moving work will appeal to both professional historians and casual readers interested in the history of America's changing attitudes towards its soldiers.
