Post AKVCgnWQYze0vCDq88 by mooraycowhen@poa.st
 (DIR) More posts by mooraycowhen@poa.st
 (DIR) Post #AKVCgnWQYze0vCDq88 by mooraycowhen@poa.st
       2022-06-15T05:03:00.284992Z
       
       2 likes, 0 repeats
       
       Been reading this; my edition was printed in the 80s. As a relative newcomer and ignoramus on the subject, I’ve found the book informative. That’s not particularly surprising, the book is considered to be a classic and I’ve seen it described in multiple places as the definitive one volume history of the American perspective in the Pacific War.I’m not sure if Spector is Jewish, and can’t find anything proving he is or is not. Some of the things he’s said in the book may indicate that he is (more on that in a second), and his surname is one that many Jews have (it’s Dutch for teacher); but Spector was also a Marine and served in the Vietnam War, which makes me think he wasn’t Jewish (although of course this is not definitive either).Anyway, why do I bring this up? In part of Ch.18, Spector gives a quick but one-sided, anti-racist overview of the African-American GI’s role in the Pacific theatre. He capitalizes “Black” and lowercases “white”. This literary dehumanization has been going on for a while!
       
 (DIR) Post #AKVJ4Gr6GfwQHbT3wW by didymus@poa.st
       2022-06-15T05:55:51.364984Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @mooraycowhen is he taking the position that japan was run "by militarists" who made an "unprovoked attack on china" and then attacked america during legitimate negotiations
       
 (DIR) Post #AKVJ4HNMKjkHteYpE0 by mooraycowhen@poa.st
       2022-06-15T06:14:30.310489Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @didymus The first statement, yes, for which a very compelling argument could be made that that is the truth, or close enough to it, although Spector goes into the nuance of discussing the different prospective strategies that were contemplated between and within the Japanese Army and Navy, and argues that much of the blame for Japan eventually going to war can be placed on the lack of a unified strategic vision for the Japanese armed forces overall.No judgement is made on the second or third propositions, as the book is primarily a military history and not a political/diplomatic one.In all honesty, and with no offense intended, I have no interest in playing the role of defender of Spector’s book with you (which I am only about 80% of the way finished with) while you, who has not read it, critique it or something you think it says. If you want to argue with Spector, go buy or borrow the book. It was very popular and I’m sure you can find it in any local bookstore/library. If you are interested in doing this, I sincerely await your (informed) criticisms.
       
 (DIR) Post #AKVL95oQx8XnOEeDA0 by mooraycowhen@poa.st
       2022-06-15T06:37:46.225353Z
       
       1 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @didymus Also, apologies if I came off sounding like a dick here. It’s kind of late, and the only point of making this post was to point out that I found a book from the 80s (one whose target audience, or at least manifest majority-of-readership, was right-wing White men no less!) that dehumanizes Whites by lower-casing the W while providing greater legitimacy to blacks by capitalizing the B.And it really put me off tbqhfamalam
       
 (DIR) Post #AKWOYOK3lPxZ3f9gPY by didymus@poa.st
       2022-06-15T18:49:19.787099Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @mooraycowhen well that's your prerogative since i chose to engage with you and not the other way around.anyhow, I had valid historiographic reasons for asking you a simple question about the book, having done a considerable amount of reading on the pacific war and its antecedents. one of the most interesting and fairest books i've read on the subject was written by an american female communist spinster, funded by one of the great foundations. she did not take that orientation towards japan and she almost completely avoided the nanking massacre hoax.
       
 (DIR) Post #AKWOYOvHX1jYv6ZPQe by mooraycowhen@poa.st
       2022-06-15T18:50:41.293179Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @didymus What’s the book?
       
 (DIR) Post #AKWPhKIiBa6194LhuC by didymus@poa.st
       2022-06-15T18:54:14.675611Z
       
       1 likes, 0 repeats
       
       @mooraycowhen The United States and the Far Eastern Crisis of 1933-1938 by Dorothy Borg