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Crimes and Mercies
(1998)
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Author: James Bacque
Publisher: Time Warner Paperbacks
Language: English
Pages: 303
ISBN: 9780751522778
Genre: History
Format: Paperback

Every once in a while, reading a book profoundly changes the way you look at the world. This is one of those books. I was educated with the idea that the Allies were noble and just in their policy and behavior after WW2. This well researched and written book opened a whole new paradigm for me, where ALL nations can be shown to act cruelly to fellow man. I can't decide what is more disconcerting, the fact that these crimes against humanity happened, or that they are so rarely talked about. Especially interesting was Gen. Eisenhower's quote in response to finding out that a majority of the urban German women and children would starve in the winter of 1946, while food lay rotting in Rotterdam. "Let the Germans suffer." The book is also nicely counterweighted by the actions of Herbert Hoover whose actions saved over 80 million starving civilians, regardless of nationality. Thanks to James Bacque I cannot imagine holding another public figure in higher esteem. I will be sure to keep this book in mind in every discussion on European history I will ever have in my life.