This Is Not Who We Are
America’s Struggle Between Vengeance and Virtue
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- £24.99
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- £24.99
Publisher Description
What kind of country is America? Zachary Shore tackles this polarizing question by spotlighting some of the most morally muddled matters of WWII. Should Japanese Americans be moved from the west coast to prevent sabotage? Should the German people be made to starve as punishment for launching the war? Should America drop atomic bombs to break Japan's will to fight? Surprisingly, despite wartime anger, most Americans and key officials favored mercy over revenge, yet a minority managed to push their punitive policies through. After the war, by feeding the hungry, rebuilding Western Europe and Japan, and airlifting supplies to a blockaded Berlin, America strove to restore the country's humanity, transforming its image in the eyes of the world. A compelling story of the struggle over racism and revenge, This Is Not Who We Are asks crucial questions about the nation's most agonizing divides.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this incisive study of WWII-era foreign and domestic policy, Shore (Blunder), a history professor at the Naval Postgraduate School, explores "America's struggle to be good at the moment it was becoming great." From treasury secretary Henry Morgenthau's "draconian" plan for the "total dismantling of German industry and returning the country to an agrarian state" to the "logistics masterpiece" that made it possible for supply planes to land every 90 seconds during the postwar Berlin Airlift, Shore vividly dissects the highs and lows of government policymaking. In particular, he reveals how the combination of a vocal minority, distracted leaders, and ambivalent lawmakers can lead to disproportionately punitive policies, such as the internment of Japanese Americans in "concentration camps were often bleak, dirty, and cruel." Throughout, Shore underscores the human element that drives decision-making, both good and bad, contending, for example, that war secretary Henry Stimson's insistence that Kyoto be removed from the list of preferred targets for the atomic bombing of Japan was the culmination of his growing frustration at being "boxed in" and "ignored" by U.S. military leaders. Full of fascinating historical tidbits and sharp character sketches ("Harry Truman thought historically, but in a flawed way"), this is a potent survey of America's ongoing battle to live up to its ideals. Photos.
