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Ww Ii Book Review

The conventional, cliff notes version of World War II taught in high schools across America tends to read something like this: capitalizing on inflation in the Great Depression, animosity from the Versailles treaty, and a virulent current of German anti-Semitism, Hitler rose to power. Soon after, he forced Chamberlain to sell out Czechoslovakia, struck a bargain with Stalin to partition Eastern Europe, invaded Poland spurring a continental conquest that required little effort, all the while engineering the Holocaust. Winston Churchill, a voice in the wilderness held out, against tremendous odds. It was not until Hitler made the mistake of invading Russia and Japan made the mistake of invading Pearl Harbor, that the trinity of Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin, all equal partners in their disdain for Nazism and all aided by considerable economic and military might, struck back. In the wake of the Normandy invasion, Germany fell. After all loose ends in Europe were tied up, Hiroshima was bombed and the war in the Pacific likewise ended. The result was a victory for democracy. To supplement this cursory overview, two films, both Steven Spielberg productions, Saving Private Ryan and Schindler's List have become standard fare for teachers seeking to demonstrate the savagery unleashed during the Second World War.
These films have had a far reaching effect on the perception of this historic conflict. Indeed, the Spielbergization of World War II has peppered the public perception of this conflict, leading to a renewed interest in World War II, but also in upholding and reinforcing the aforementioned narrow view. Yet, when one delves deeper beneath the surface, as is often the case, one finds that there is more to the story than high school texts or Hollywood cinema has to provide. In the eight works of historical prose examined here, unconventional explanations are given to various segments of World War II. Be them unpopular, intentionally controversial, or...