Book Cover
E-book
Author Bodnar, John E., 1944-

Title The "Good War" in American memory / John Bodnar
Published Baltimore : Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010

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Description 1 online resource (x, 299 pages) : illustrations
Contents Wartime -- Soldiers write the war -- "No place for weaklings" -- Monuments and mourning -- The split screen -- The outsiders -- The victors -- Conclusion -- Postscript on Iraq
Summary "2003 Outstanding Academic Title, Choice" ""An uncommonly well balanced account of the political biases of American movies ... A fine read for the generalist yet a scholarly achievement."--Choice" ""You cannot but be seduced and even sometimes bedazzled by Bodnar's clear, well-informed and impartial analysis."--Cercles" ""Bodnar provides a useful provocation. He asks us to think imaginatively about the subtle and complex ways movies communicate ideas and attitudes."--Journal of American History" ""Open minded and even handed, he appreciates the nuances and mixed messages of Hollywood cinema."--American Historical Review" "The "Good War" in American Memory dispels the long-held myth that Americans forged an agreement on why they had to fight in World War II. John Bodnar's sociocultural examination of the vast public debate that took place in the United States over the war's meaning reveals that the idea of the "good war" was highly contested." "Bodnar's comprehensive study of the disagreements that marked the American remembrance of World War II in the six decades following its end draws on an array of sources: fiction and nonfiction, movies, theater, and public monuments. He identifies alternative strands of memory--tragic and brutal versus heroic and virtuous--and reconstructs controversies involving veterans, minorities, and memorials. In building this narrative, Bodnar shows how the idealism of President Franklin Roosevelt's Four Freedoms was lost in the public commemoration of World War II, how the war's memory became intertwined in the larger discussion over American national identity, and how it only came to be known as the "good war" many years after its conclusion."--Jacket
Notes OldControl:muse9781421400020
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes English
Print version record
Subject National characteristics, American.
War and society -- United States
Memory -- Social aspects -- United States
Collective memory -- United States
World War, 1939-1945 -- Social aspects -- United States
Collective memory
Memory -- Social aspects
National characteristics, American
Social aspects
War and society
United States
Form Electronic book
ISBN 9781421400020
1421400022