What would you like the reader to take away from the book?
"Although I write military history, above all I am interested in what happened as human experience. And if I were asked to give one good reason to read my book, it would be that we have stupid people who don't know any history saying today that we live in a terrible world: 9/11, Al Qaeda, and so on. It bears saying again and again that we are an incredibly privileged and pampered generation. One need only spend five minutes considering the experiences of what people went through in World War II as a whole - especially in the final cataclysmic phase when more than 100 million people were, as I say in my book, "locked in bloody embrace" - to conclude that we are so very fortunate today.
I would especially hope that the message of humility comes through. The only case for writing books of this kind at all is to teach a new generation soemthing about what happened to a previous generation. Every time I write a book like this, I listen hour after hour to the experiences of hundreds of men and women. And I always come away from listening to them hugely impressed with the dignity and generosity of spirit with which many people have endured far worse things than we will ever have to face."
Unfortunately I cannot find a link to the complete article on their website, but to read a handful of articles or order a copy of this issue of Books and Culture (March/April, 2005), check the link for information.
No comments:
Post a Comment