Summer, 1945–Germany, Japan And The Harvest of Hate With Thomas Goodrich.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
PLEASE VISIT THOMAS GOODRICH.COM FOR MORE INFO & TO ORDER BOOKS
To order: 1) visit Amazon.com, or simply click the order button to the right, or 2) order through me via my PayPal account @ [email protected], $20 US / $25 abroad, or 3) email me at [email protected] and ask about deep discounts on orders of five or more.
I would like to announce the release of my latest, and probably my last, book, Summer, 1945–Germany, Japan and the Harvest of Hate. As some of you already know, Summer, 1945 is the follow-up to my previous book, Hellstorm–The Death of Nazi Germany, 1944-1947. This new book (right ) is the culmination of over three years of research and writing. It is also a project that had to overcome hurricanes, divorces and several major moves and setbacks in my life. With all that said I am pleased to announce that those who have read the initial draft of Summer, 1945, believe the book’s impact equals that of Hellstorm; I am even more pleased to state that some who have read the rough draft feel the book’s impact greatly surpasses that of Hellstorm. An author is, of course, the last person on earth to determine whether his book is greater or less than his last; that little detail is left up entirely to you, the reader.
As was the case with Hellstorm, there was no pleasure in writing this book. Quite the opposite. Similarly, other than the satisfaction of finishing what was started, there is no thrill in the actual release of this book. Anyone who has heard of Hellstorm or anyone who has actually read it can well understand what someone goes through when writing such a book. Why then did I write it? Because no one else had. It’s that simple. Despite being perhaps the most pivotal moment of the modern era, despite books devoted to virtually every other aspect of World War Two, over the past seventy years none has seen fit to devote a book to these critical four months of world history–the summer of 1945. In those crucial four months—months of so-called “peace” for Germany, months of absolute hell for Japan—the worst crimes known to man, the worst crimes committed by man, the worst crimes committed against man, all occurred and all were committed, then hidden, under a virtual shroud of silence, secrecy and darkness.
Also, it must be mentioned that just as with all of my previous books, Summer, 1945 assumes a graphic, no-nonsense, “you-are-there” approach. Throughout, this book seeks a first-person, up-close and personal style that places you the reader in the very midst of the narrative itself. Only in this way—for better, for worse—can a reader truly grasp the full range of emotions being described and understand just what the participants are actually experiencing. I personally believe this method is the only way a reader can truly come to grips with the reality of history.
To order: 1) visit Amazon.com, or simply click the order button to the right, or 2) order though me via my paypal account @ [email protected], $20 US / $25 abroad, or 3) email me at [email protected] and ask about deep discounts on orders of five or more.
About Summer, 1945. . . .
This book is about crime and the evil things evil men do. This book is about words and hate and the powerful price of propaganda. This book is about the savage, no-quarter war waged against Japan during the summer of 1945 and it is about the equally savage no-quarter “peace” waged against Germany during that same summer, 1945. There is no attempt herein to recite the numerous atrocities attributed to the Germans and Japanese by the victorious powers. Certainly, some of these crimes were true; equally certain, many of these crimes were not. Such is winning and losing. Such is war.
To most modern readers, the “unique” guilt attributed to the Axis powers in starting World War II as well as their supposed barbaric behavior in prosecuting it are too well known to repeat. For those who wish to learn more of the victor’s version of the war, a simple trip to the book store or library, or the viewing of virtually any feature-length movie or documentary film will offer up the Allied account of the war. This book is, instead, devoted to the inhuman treatment and savage atrocities directed at the losers of the war by the winners, both during and after that war. This book is about the evil things evil men do.
(left, Somewhere in the South Pacific)
Just as my previous book on Allied war crimes during and after World War II in Europe—Hellstorm: The Death of Nazi Germany, 1944-1947—illustrated how deadly propaganda can be, especially when the intended target audience for such propaganda are eighteen-year-olds with weapons in their hands, so too does this book attempt to illustrate how vicious words fired by experts are far more deadly than bombs and bullets for, unlike bombs and bullets which kill only once, words kill again and again and again. Simply, Japanese and German propaganda never came close to matching Allied propaganda in pure hate; Japanese and German propaganda never had the dripping venom and murderous malice that American and British propaganda had then, and, for the most part, still has now.
While the victors, to this day, vilify and condemn the Germans and Japanese for their treatment of American POWs, never mentioned is that at least the Germans and Japanese were taking prisoners. Few, very few, German and Japanese soldiers survived actual combat to reach an American POW camp. While the victors, to this day, assail again and again the Germans for crimes against Jews or attack the Japanese for crimes against the Chinese, seldom does one hear about the crimes against t
he Germans or the crimes against the Japanese, of the deliberate firebombing of millions of German and Japanese women and children, of the wholesale rape of countless women and children, of the utter and abject subservience that both nations even today still find themselves locked in.
( left, The “Good War” . . . The “Good Peace” )
Finally, it is the most fervent hope of the author that after finishing Hellstorm and this, its companion study, Summer, 1945, that the reader will not simply set the volumes down and return to a life of indifference and apathy. It is the author’s greatest wish that each reader will instead work with others to ensure that never again—not in our name, not in our time, not in our world—will we ever allow such evil propaganda such as was used in World War II to ever repeat itself; that no matter who it may next be directed at, be it Germans, Japanese, Iranians, North Koreans, or Israelis, we will not ever again allow such vicious, sadistic, and evil words to be used to either create a war or create a “peace” such as was foisted on Germany and Japan. As the past has proven, such reckless, murderous words reap reckless, murderous harvests of innocent and guilty alike. Unless we all work to throttle evil men and their evil words and evil deeds, then soon, very soon, that evil will almost certainly be directed at us and those we love.
Tom Goodrich
