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

I'd say it's because of two main factors, the first being the enormous scale, which even with the amount of reading and other study we've all put into the subject remains incredibly difficult to focus on with any true feeling of accurate appreciation; eg: In six months of fighting in the Hurtgen Forest the US Army suffered at least if not more losses than they did in the whole of the Vietnam war. An dthe Vietnam War wasn't a small conflict.

The other is media; both how much was generated, but how much of that which was generated remains a popular form today. By media I don't just mean mainstream news or entertainment sources, but also the tons officially generated by War Departments, Armies, Navies, etc.

Just fifty years previously there was very little media, the occasional blurry photo, the war artists sketch, the journal or military report, little in the way of written manual for equipment, let alone films for training.

WWII was widely filmed by all sides for a variety of reasons, it was recorded in audio too. Just about everything ever transmitted too was archived, often by both sides and with multiple copies. Along with official or professional recordings there were also amateur or civilian recordings and all this alongside the older fashioned recordings by writing. It was the first mass media war.

 

Btw dgmitchell, keep writing that book and pm me when it's done with the name/where to get it. I'll make a spot in my bookcase if it's good.

 

Wait it's an essay wut?

 

Yep. It's an essay for a literary website. I'll send you the link as soon as it appears -- probably a November date as I have already completed my assignments through October.

 

Ty dgmitchell. Look forward to reading it anyway!

 

Half of the books are easily the best books in the world. Band of Brothers: From Normandy to Hitlers Eagle Nest, The Rising Tide, The Steel Wave, to name a few.

 

I'd hazard a guess at there being a certain 'saving the world' charm to the Allied side of this war that makes it so appealing. It should also be considered that even though the beginning of the conflict is now a few weeks beyond its 70th birthday, the war is nowhere near being gone from living memory for the men who fought it, and we're still decades away from losing the last of those civilians who can remember it, yet it is far enough into the past that it does not pain the general society to talk about it.

Just a few quick thoughts, ignore as needed. I am almost completely ignorant on most wars other than WW2 myself (I particularly adore the weaponry and technology, being both incredibly advanced and yet still quite primitive at the same time), so I don't really know if any of my points apply to all that many other wars the US has played a part in.

 

Bump . . .

 

Cool. Well, i suppose an essay is an essay, even though it's an essay. # of pages?

 

- It's now or never to get the last 1st hand testimonies
-archeological finds are made on a daily basis
-Theories and facts are debated over and over again
-It was the last "conventional" world war.If we start again we'd die in a nuclear war.
-Everybody has a relative with a WWII story.
-It's a war that permantly changed the face of the whole world.
-There are monuments and relics from this war all over the place.

 

This is just a thought, and even a very original one... But...

Formal Academic Sociology came into its own between the World Wars. With the more cohesive collection of scientific data (from meteorological statistics to nominative census data to the more cohesive preservation of newsprint and archiving) came new and innovative approaches to creating and keeping the historical record.

Another concept that was relatively new was the understanding of dis-information and its social impact. Its one thing for propaganda to be accepted in the mainstream media ("you supply the war, I'll supply the facts") and become part of the historical record. Its quite another for dis-information created for espionage purposes to slip in and later be challenged or disproved by closer analysis of the facts.

While spying was always a part of warfare, cover ups were easier to get away with. There was less damning evidence that could float to the surface later. Sifting through all the contradictory information and lies has kept generations of historians busy.

 

It's the largest human drama of all time.