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Why is WW2 the focus of such a disproportionately large percentage of military books?

Discussion in 'WWII Books & Publications' started by dgmitchell, Aug 8, 2009.

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  1. dgmitchell

    dgmitchell Ace

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    Fellow Rogues -- I am working on an essay which considers why WW2 is far and away the most popular military conflict for authors to consider, as opposed to all other conflicts in which the US military has been involved. I will appreciate any and all thoughts on this subject which you might be willing to share. The website for which I am writing the essay needs my first draft by mid-September so I am looking for as many comments as possible over the next two weeks.

    Note -- Particularly lucid observations may be quoted in my essay but I shall obtain your permission beforehand (and will attribute the quote to you, if I use one of your quotes).

    I have my own thoughts on why WW2 continues to enjoy such popularity but I won't taint the discussion by offering my thoughts just yet (and, of course, if I share my thoughts here, you won't come and read my essay when it is completed!)
     
    dgmitchell, Aug 8, 2009
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  2. JagdtigerI

    JagdtigerI Ace

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    Well I doubt this will make it into your book but I'll throw in my two cents...

    WWII is simply the latest, greatest war. It is only natural for people to be interested in it, and therefore the demand for books is greater.

    However, other reasons for the interest in WWII is it's immense diversity. It consisted of two theaters each with multiple fronts. It is very semetric with the first couple years seeing mainly axis dominance, a middle transition year, and then another two years or so devoted to the allies. It is also a war which clearly illustrates "good" confronting "bad" with the good side victorious. It was the largest and most costly war in history and still has a great effect on today's society and styles of warfare.

    It is sort of like a breaking news story. Every newspaper and tv channel will frantically prepare and publish Headlines about it, but after a while it dies down. Essentially WWII on a smaller scale.
     
    JagdtigerI, Aug 8, 2009
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  3. formerjughead

    formerjughead The Cooler King

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    I think because it is the first war that was so extensively documented. Even with all of the documentation there is still quite a bit of mystique surounding it. Unlike Korea and especially Vietnam where the folks at home experienced it in their living rooms.

    The real "up tick" in WW2 interest started in 1991 with the 50th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor and grew stonger in '94 and '95 with the 50th anniversaries of D-Day, V-E Day, Hiroshima, Nagasaki and V-J Day. Somewhere along the lines the American public became aware of the mortality of those who experienced it.

    September 11th palyed a big part also when it was compared to Pearl Harbor.

    I am sure there are some conspiracy theorists who will say that it has all been a plot by the media to instill support for the military and sense of sacrifice.

    I know if my dad was still alive I would be asking him a ton more questions than I did.

    Brad
     
    formerjughead, Aug 8, 2009
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  4. urqh

    urqh Tea drinking surrender monkey

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    Much may be due to us seeing our living family members who took part either leaving us or growing up in the home of a participant.. And wanting a link with them through our very recent past.. Looking at our families with eyes a new.
     
    urqh, Aug 9, 2009
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  5. OpanaPointer

    OpanaPointer I Point at Opana Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

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    Simply put, people want to know. They look for every source they can find. The sites in my sig get over 1.5 million hits per month (on the front pages alone, no numbers for direct linked pages), and they're pure document sites, no bells or whistles, no flash players.
     
    OpanaPointer, Aug 9, 2009
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  6. Slipdigit

    Slipdigit Good Ol' Boy Staff Member WW2|ORG Editor

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    1. The story is still relevant to current events.
    2. People who were involved in the war are still living and if they are not, people who are alive now knew the participants personally.
    3. There is a good video and photographic record of the war.
    4. There are good records of the actions of the common soldier. In the past, that was not always so. Who cared enough about Quernius the spearman or Clive the powder-monkey back then to record what they did?
    4. The sheer scope of the war. Big is always better.
     
    Slipdigit, Aug 9, 2009
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  7. L-Raiser

    L-Raiser Member

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    - The sheer size of the conflic.
    - Its massive brutality.
    - Its massive numbers.
    - Its casualty amounts were mind-blowing.
    - For the first time in a conflict everyone from civilians to military was deeply involved.
    - For the first time in a conflict the media was deeply involved, photo, movie, literature, it made the war very hard to ignore even to those who were not involved.
    - The quantity of memoirs and accounts published after made it very hard to forget.
    - It had a bit of everything, Air, Land and Sea, from the good ol'-fashion hand-to-hand combat to cavalry charges, to massive tank and air battles.
    - It was a truly world war.

    - In a sense WWII was the last of the old-fashion wars, and the first of the modern wars.
     
    L-Raiser, Aug 9, 2009
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  8. LRusso216

    LRusso216 Graybeard Staff Member

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    Well, here goes...

    First, I think WW2 marks the beginning of the modern world in many respects. It was the first time armies were almost completely mechanized (I know, there were still horses used, but still). Many of the advances of industrialization had their first true application here, even though some had been available in WW1, WW2 saw their full flowering (tanks, airplanes, submarines, etc.) It also marked the end of the concept of shifting alliances. Previously, alliance systems tended to shift according to which nation represented the biggest threat. Starting with WW2, the idea of two superpowers and associated states became the norm. That lasted until the fall of the Soviet Union, but now I think that mantle has passed to China. WW2 marked the end of the colonial system. Former colonies began to take to heart the Allied concepts of freedom and self-determination. It's hard to preach such things, and still keep nations as colonies. It didn't happen all at once, but it was inevitable that France and Britain would lose their empires. It certainly played a part in causing the Middle East to become the focus of such ideas. The Middle East also became vital because WW2 marked the real beginning of the need for oil. Ships that previously ran on coal were replaced by ships using diesel. Planes required huge amounts of aviation fuel made from oil, to say nothing of the increased use of automobiles and trucks.

    Second, as noted above, it marked the last global conflict (war) in which there were clearly defined sides. In Viet Nam, I'm not sure there was ever a clear-cut "other side". Some saw the war as a conflict between the US and the Vietnamese, who served as proxies for our true enemy, the Soviet Union (I am not attempting to politicize this answer).

    Third, it marked the beginning, at least in the US, of opening society to more inclusion. The role of women change drastically during the war, giving them the first opportunity to experience the world of work outside the home. Some would argue that WW2 marked the beginning of the Civil Rights movement in the US, when African-Americans began to recognize that there were opportunities that had previously been closed to them.

    Fourth, I would agree that the amount of documentation available is so tremendous that there is a veritable treasure trove of data to be examined. Record keeping was much more sophisticated that almost everything that happened was seen, heard, or written about. The existence of this mountain of information has opened the door to a generation of historians whose focus can afford to be narrowed to smaller aspects than just "Why did the war begin?" Look at the very narrow subject areas being mined, for example, Kershaw's examination of the USS Tang, a single submarine. Such detailed and narrow topics are difficult to pursue in earlier conflicts because the data is nowhere near as complete.

    Finally, for many of us, the war is still immediate. We have friends, relatives, or even ourselves, who were part of it. We can still get first person accounts of battles, personalities, and experiences. Any historian worth his salt would agree that such first person narratives form the backbone of research. It's better than diaries, letters,etc., although these are also found in tremendous numbers.

    All of these areas present many hooks for further examination, so we see a whole generation of historians mining the data.

    I'm sure if I really worked at it, I could flesh this out, but these are the things that occurred to me straight off.

    Good luck with your essay.
     
    LRusso216, Aug 9, 2009
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  9. brndirt1

    brndirt1 Saddle Tramp

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    Well put Lou.
     
    brndirt1, Aug 9, 2009
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  10. Keystone Two-Eight

    Keystone Two-Eight Member

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    I think it's simply because that it was the absolute battle between good and evil. Nowhere in time has anyone come as close to being compared to the Anti-Christ as Hitler was. Nothing since has been so pivotal as WWII, and the impact it had on humanity has changed the planet forever.
     
    Keystone Two-Eight, Aug 9, 2009
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  11. Martin Bull

    Martin Bull Acting Wg. Cdr

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    I think many of the above raise very good points, perhaps summarized best in L-Raiser's posting.

    Just one more thing I'd drop in which sounds trivial until you think about it. Some years ago I spoke with a very well-known British historian who has published award-winning books about WWII and other wars, and had just finished a history of WW1. He admitted to finding WW1 'hard work' to put on paper - fundamentally because he had difficulty in staying focused on just what all these countries were fighting over.

    He said that whenever writing about WWII, and whatever the 'grey areas' of National motivation, politics, etc - the Nazis were basically ' bad guys' who had to be defeated. Makes it easier to write - and read - about.
     
    Martin Bull, Aug 10, 2009
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  12. urqh

    urqh Tea drinking surrender monkey

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    Yep without belittling... Cowboys and indians.. And america playing her cavalry role well.. In the nick of time is always a good time.
     
    urqh, Aug 10, 2009
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  13. JeffinMNUSA

    JeffinMNUSA Member

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    Yep-and it ended with a big boom in Hiroshima. Pray that there is never another... That generation of people who went through WWII experienced the most wrenching of changes but were they truly "The greatest generation"? Considering Postwar advancements in technology as well as the destruction of the Axis military power and I would have to say "yes!"
     
    JeffinMNUSA, Aug 10, 2009
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  14. Chesehead121

    Chesehead121 Member

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    Because it was the last "Great War". WW1 was a bloody stalemate, which was not very exciting to read about, but WW2 was a fast paced back and forth battle for supremacy with treachery(Barbarossa), heroes(the RAF), and unthinkable tragedies(the Holocaust).
     
    Chesehead121, Aug 10, 2009
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  15. dgmitchell

    dgmitchell Ace

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    This is great stuff, gents! Please keep the thread growing with any other thoughts that come to mind!
     
    dgmitchell, Aug 11, 2009
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  16. JeffinMNUSA

    JeffinMNUSA Member

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    David;
    Stuff that comes to mind? Well our parents' generation for starters. They are leaving this world quickly now... We are still heartbroken at our recent loss.
    Jeff
     

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    JeffinMNUSA, Aug 11, 2009
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  17. Martin Bull

    Martin Bull Acting Wg. Cdr

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    But in the UK the Great War is still called the Great War in many quarters - and it isn't WWII. As for exciting reading, any number of books such as 'Storm Of Steel' or 'The First Day On The Somme' could disprove the rule.....
     
    Martin Bull, Aug 11, 2009
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  18. Gromit801

    Gromit801 Member

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    It was a defining moment in human history, and bigger than any other conflict before or since. More complex, more fronts, more participants.
     
    Gromit801, Aug 11, 2009
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  19. Chesehead121

    Chesehead121 Member

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    Martinbull, you're probably right. However, I did not say it was the ONLY great war, just the LAST one. And we all know that the last part of books or movies is the part people remember. (at least that's the part I remember.)
     
    Chesehead121, Aug 22, 2009
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  20. Erich

    Erich Alte Hase

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    things are still being pieced together, I passed on my own Father serving in the Navy and my Father in law is not far behind due to age, and that is the point these living veterans have been able to some degree clear the air on the truth of many events. obviously with the internet many long lost archiv's in Europe have become open ground possibly a literal minefield of information to our high tech info world that some feel is needed, much of the war is documented and preserved, wishing the Soviet docs could be freely accessed instead of a pain in the arse.

    the vberasity of weapons systems used by all sides and even that dirty evil Thrid Reich still has made an impression on the worlds arms even today with high tech designs not proved during the war.
     
    Erich, Aug 22, 2009
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