Michael C.C. Adams, The Best War Ever Discussion Questions
1. What is the connection between the “best war ever” myth of World War Two
and Vietnam War-era soldiers? 15
2. How did the 1929 stock market crash help bring about the attack on Pearl
Harbor 12 years later? 29-30
3. How did the 1929 stock market crash help Hitler? 30-31
4. Why did Nazi treatment of the Jews , gypsies, and communists not sicken
America and Europe? Why was the Holocaust able to occur? 33
5. According to Adams, why was Neville Chamberlain’s appeasement policy at
Munich in England’s best interests? 39
6. Why was the Soviet Union so crucial to the Allied war effort? In what way
did the Americans underestimate the Soviets? 47
7. Why did the Axis powers lose the second half of the war in Europe? Why did
the Allies concentrate more on Germany than Japan? 48
8. Why were the daytime bombings by American fliers not a great policy? 54
9. How did Hitler’s “iron will” contribute further to the destruction of central
Europe? 58
10. Why did Japan lose the war in the Pacific? Why did Japan lose the Battle of
Midway? 61-62
11. Why did Japan not surrender quickly in 1945? In Adams’ view, was the
dropping of the atomic bomb understandable? Why? 66-67
12. Why is it not true that “all the men fought, and all the women worked”
during WWII? How many US wives really had husbands in the military? 7071
13. Is it true that in WWII American men rushed to the military to defend their
country with patriotic fervor? What about draft evasion? What about African
Americans? 77
14. Why was the US army, in some respects, inferior to the German army? 79-80
15. What kinds of work did black soldiers and sailors do? What about
discrimination? 83
16. What about homosexuality in the military? What about women? 84-86
17. Who did most of the fighting in the US army? Were they “happy warriors”?
86-87
18. What about US troops and sex? What about alcohol and drugs? 93-94
19. What about mental illness and the war? 95-96
20. What was the problem with the way the US army ran the infantry? 97-98
21. What were the hardships that the “foot soldier” faced that other troops
didn’t? 103-104
22. In the Pacific especially, did the “ civilized” American troops treat the enemy
dead with dignity? 112
23. Did WWII pay for itself? What did the war do for many corporations? 117118
24. What about sex during the ar and illegitimate births? What about the
familiar “Rosey the Rivoter” image? Who opposed women in the workforce?
123-124
25. How did the war affect education? 126
26. What about patriotism and the war on the home front among business,
labor, and consumers? 130-131
27. Why did racism continue after we fought “the most costly war in history” to
defeat Nazi racism? 146 How did many American G.I.s Regard the Jews in the
death camps? How did American gentiles regard American Jews during the
war? 146-147
28. What did the G.I. Bill of Rights do for veterans? Why did some Americans not
really support it? Was the G.I. Bill good for American universities? 151-152