A More Perfect Union: The Common Defense
The Wisconsin Humanities Council offers a "pre-packaged" DISCUSSION KIT for libraries, book clubs, campus and school groups, UW-Extension programs, or any not-for-profit or ad-hoc group. You are viewing the 2005 book list.
A Bell for Adano by John Hersey
(Pulitzer Prize 1945)
Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Co (September, 2004)
ISBN: 0618509283
This tale of the American army in Italy at the end of World War II features an Italian-American Major who is made mayor of a poor fishing village in need of post-war governance. Major Victor Joppolo tries to rebuild the town according to his own good intentions and democratic instincts, but as “Major Mayor” gets to know the eclectic cast of villagers that have known nothing but fascism and corrupt leaders, he is challenged to explain and exemplify the virtues of democracy. The story, full of moral quandaries, captures the nastier sides of the U.S. policy (including prejudice, bureaucracy, and arrogance) but also presents an era where the U.S.'s international position was markedly less controversial than it is today. Not only is the Major Mayor a "common Joe" who believes in democratic ideals and strives to make a difference in a war-torn world, the story also shows a hopeful, visionary form of democracy that prevails over fascism.
The Plot Against America by Philip Roth
Hardcover: 400 pages
Publisher: One World/Ballantine; Reprint edition (October 1, 2002)
ISBN: 0345452933
This imagined history of America in the 1940's is told through the eyes of a 7-year-old character named Philip Roth. In the 1940 presidential election, aviation hero Charles Lindbergh defeats Franklin D. Roosevelt for President on a platform of isolationist foreign policy that promises to keep American boys out of “Europe's war.” Over the next twenty-two months, President Lindbergh takes a variety of controversial actions, including negotiating an "understanding" with Hitler and introducing public service programs aimed at breaking up Jewish communities. Young Philip, who lives in a Jewish neighborhood and, like his family and Jewish families all over the country, is both terrified and confused about how Americans seem so quickly to forget the democratic principles of tolerance and freedom. The neighborhood tunes in nightly to the Jewish radio host and iconoclast Walter Winchell, until Winchell is assassinated along with, apparently, the first amendment. The characters are complex: a prominent Jewish Rabbi who is a close confident and supporter of Lindbergh; Philip's older cousin who enlists in Canada to fight Hitler and returns a disillusioned, apolitical, angry amputee; Philip's father, a self-educated and righteous patriot who keeps his family abreast of the fearful political situation.
Patriots: The Vietnam War Remembered From All Sides by Christian G. Appy)
Paperback: 608 pages
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics); Reprint edition (September 28, 2004)
ISBN: 0142004499
Patriots is a collection of oral histories with commentary by historian Christian Appy. From over 350 interviews, Appy has pieced together personal narratives that demonstrate the scale, complexity, and significance of the American-Vietnamese conflict. The voices are American and Vietnamese, male and female, soldiers and commanders, policy makers and government officials, communists and anti-communists, entertainers and journalists, airline stewardesses and peace activists. Reading the words of Tran Thi Gung, a 59-year old woman recalling her years as a soldier fighting guerrilla warfare with the Viet Cong, one grasps the intense pride that compelled her to fight. That, coupled with the words of Roger Donlon, who describes his mission in Vietnam to “advise, assist, and train the Vietnamese,” in the chapter titled “War Heroes,” helps one begin to recognize the vast complexity and diversity of perspectives and passions that fueled the war. Similarly, recollections from government officials and military commanders on both sides reflect the complexities of government policy, the difference between policy and on-the-ground truth, and the long term consequences of war for countries and for people.
We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families: Stories from Rwanda by Philip Gourevitch
(National Book Critics Circle Award 1998)
Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Picador (September 1, 1999)
ISBN: 0312243359
In this work of non-fiction, the author recounts the history of the 1994 genocide in the Republic of Rwanda and its aftermath. The tragedy is brought alive with detailed historical narrative, through the words of survivors, and with Gourevitch's own compelling commentary about his experience traveling through the devastated but hopeful nation. The nature of the crisis is perplexing: at least 800,000 people were killed in just 100 days, while the international community avoided the term genocide and chose not to intervene with troops or diplomacy. Gourevitch poses difficult questions about government's ability to manipulate the public's sentiment based on myths and stereotypes, the disconnect between those on the ground and those making decisions and policy, the fragility of democracy, and the fluid nature of our own ideals and principles.