The "Good War" in American Memory

The comprehensiveness and scope of Bodnar's research makes [The 'Good War' in American Memory] a fine addition to an expanding body of work that seeks to complicate a consensus view of the war and that work toward a polysemic understanding of the past.

This engaging and well-written book addresses not just World War II but has implications for war remembrance more generally. Bodnar's analysis speaks powerfully to how cultures of nationalism and of war can become challenged amidst the heartbreak of massive death—and then to how easily such challenges may be forgotten and displaced by heroic narratives.

Bodnar provides a corrective lens for those whose recent myopia accepts the celebratory effect of... traditional treatments of American participation in World War II... What Bodnar has adamantly recovered is the faded suffering of family members whose loved ones were buried overseas or never found, and the memories of veterans who could not escape the confusion and frustration.

Show[s] movingly and with great care how the history of emotion is embedded in the history of war and point[s] the way to future scholarship with authority and conviction. That is no mean achievement.

This is an outstanding book that reminds historians that today's memory may be shaped by a longing for a past that may not have existed. It is an excellent analysis of mixed messages and is highly recommended.