Publisher's Synopsis
Merriam Press World War 2 History No. 5
First Edition 2016
Most scholarship on the American role in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) during World War II has addressed the "large" issues of strategy, campaign outcomes, command leadership, and logistical support. Other, generally more recent research efforts have provided insights into the experiences of the individual combatants. In this publication Karsten offers a better grasp of these latter efforts, utilizing evidence that has been underutilized.
What he asks in this unique work is whether the media (journalists, broadcasters, combat photographers, cartoonists and artists) in the ETO during World War II significantly improved our understanding of the world of the American infantryman there.
"Thoughtful, comprehensive, and provocative. Peter Karsten's research ranges from the world of the combat infantryman to the world of the war correspondent. He is particularly illuminating where those worlds collide." -Rick Atkinson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the trilogy: The Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-43; The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, and The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1943-45
"Peter Karsten has written a long overdue study of GI infantrymen's attitudes in the war against Germany, matching frontline reporting with the U.S. Army's survey research. Bill Mauldin and Ernie Pyle were the most reliable observers of GI hardships and complaints about the Army. Karsten matches Mauldin's cartoons with the Research Bureau polling with convincing effect." -Allan R. Millett, co-author, A War to Be Won: Fighting the Second World War
"As Normandy veteran Paul Fussell once lamented, World War II has been Disneyfied and sanitized beyond recognition. Peter Karsten brings all his analytic skills to this analysis of the American GI. By getting as close to the soldiers themselves, Karsten gives us new insights into what they thought and how they reacted to the monumental events happening around them. This book will help us to better understand the real men rather than the Disney version. Karsten's work will be of interest to scholars of the war as well as those interested in the biggest questions of war, soldiers, and the societies they serve." -Michael S. Neiberg, author of The Blood of Free Men: The Liberation of Paris, 1944
