Human Smoke: The Beginnings of World War II, the End of Civilization | Nicholson Baker

Human Smoke: The Beginnings of World War II, the End of Civilization | Nicholson Baker | A better book to read...

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	Human Smoke: The Beginnings of World War II, the End of Civilization Nicholson Baker Simon & Schuster, 2008 - 576 pages average customer review:based on 63 reviews view larger image
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A Brave, If Irritating, Work

I am a tremendous fan of Nicholson Baker. I find him to be one of the best prose stylists in America today. I find his work to be eminently readable--absorbing, subtly subversive, sometimes irritating, certainly entertaining. Even when I disagree with him, whether that be the conclusions he draws in his non-fiction or some outrageousness in his fiction, I love to read him.

Human Smoke joins Baker's oeuvre as one of his best pieces of non-fiction. In it, he gives us a different perspective on the lead-up and first years of World War II. Essentially, it is his desire to show us how the Allies, Churchill and Roosevelt, in particular, brought on the war, committed atrocities and enabled the Nazis and Japanese to commit their atrocities. For example, the British engaged in haphazard bombing in Europe forcing the Luftwaffe to start the Battle of Britain while Roosevelt gave the Chinese planes and crews and positioned the Pacific fleet to egg on the Japanese, knowing in advance Pearl Harbor would be attacked, drawing us into the war just as he wished.

In point of fact, almost no one in this book comes off well. The pacifists look rather pathetic as they are dragged off to jail while Gandhi encourages people to stand and be slaughtered rather than defend themselves. Jews and non-Jews alike seem in denial about what is going on in Nazi-controlled territories. The only people who come off half-way decent are ones you wouldn't expect: people like Herbert Hoover who works to relieve the suffering of children in Europe, and Hitler who constantly seems to be pushing for peace treaties, responding to provocation and pushing Jews to emigrate.

Now, though much of what Baker is reporting is true, he is, of course, rather selective in his reporting. And I didn't walk away from this book changing my feelings about Churchill, Roosevelt, or Hitler, for that matter. Much of what Baker talks about in this book are things with which I was already familiar. Still, it is good to be reminded of the fact that in big historical events like this, there is always more going on than meets the eye. Politicians, no matter how decent, are playing deep, complex games that even they can probably not fully articulate.

And when it comes right down to it, Baker writes so well. I love the structure of this book. It reads and in some ways appears on the page as a series of telegrams. Each "message" is dated and comes across as pure reportage based, as it is, on sources from the time. As we all know, primary sources such as newspapers and letters can be as deceiving and self-serving as any other form of media but it still makes for wonderful reading.

Baker takes a series risk with this book. The Allies in World War II were the "Greatest Generation" and taking them to task does not seem like a wise road to popularity. On the other hand, those people not automatically turned off by Baker's premise will find a lot of interest here. My respect for people is rarely swayed by knowing that they are flawed, human, and products of their time. If you are the same, I recommend this book to you.

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A better book to read...

I give it five stars for its THESIS, but it is sloppy with the facts. The THESIS that World War Two was just as pointless and self-defeating as Iraq. A more accurate account with the same THESIS is:

Churchill, Hitler And The Unnecessary War, by Patrick Buchanan.

An incredible and inciteful look at important history.

This telling of the story of the buildup to our involvement in World War Two is unique and opens up the mind to an understanding of the men and ideas behind World War II. It also reveals the utter hypocrisy that underlies most wars. There were no good guys. Just the bad guys fighting each other. As one historian has put it, "World War Two was a lie versus a half truth", and I think he was being generous. Most importantly, it did not have to happen. This book is a must. I've dog eared and written so many notes in mine I need to buy another one to loan out.

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Worth reading

I was born at the end of WWII, so I grew up hearing a lot about the war. Most of the info in this book was new to me and I'm sure it will be to other people. Very well written and easy to read except for having to absorb all the misery and death. Reminds us that war should always be the very last resort.

Scrapbook Polemic

First of all, I agree with the point of view that war is the most horrendous, not to say bizarre, human activity and that as time goes on it is getting worse not better, more bestial. Apart from some differences in technology, our war making most resembles war making in the insect world. So I think it's simply normal to hate war, especially as conducted now: against civilians, indifferently, as if you were playing a video game.

Having said that, I found this book, which is pacifist in intent, pretty annoying. By joining together news clippings and descriptions of minor events in a chronological order with brief commentary, he builds his case by implication, rather than just stating it. I suppose this would be all right. I don't dispute the facts nor the obvious inferences, but obviously if you just went through every newspaper and picked out the items that fit your "agenda", you could build a case that World War II never happened at all.

The fact that Roosevelt and Churchill were looking for a way to get the U.S. involved in the war regardless of how many innocent lives were lost is I guess incontestable. Churchill not warning the people of Coventry that a huge attack was expected is unforgivable. There's a lot that reflects badly on Churchill. It needs to be remembered that his rhetorical magic helped a great many miserable people get through miserable times, insubstantial as rhetoric is and this is because it was pugnacious and aggressive. If someone attacks you or your family, your instinct is to fight back. The extensive quotes from Gandhi that generally suggest that you should lie down and let them trample you come across as naive, at best. Anyway, it wasn't going to happen. There's going to have to be a fundamental change in human beings, not simply political - policy changes if war is going to end. And I don't think it's impossible, I just think it's highly improbable. Our country's mythology and the historical mythologies of most countries is based on winning wars, defeating evil, and, as I say, our natural instinct is: if pushed to push back.

Personally, I don't think the leaders were or are as responsible for what they do as is generally thought. After all, Hitler and Stalin were insane, Churchill was drunk all the time. It seems to me that all these people were swept along by the cyclone of events and all the victims swept along too.

I think it's good that the view of World War II is being revised. All the triumphalism needs to be muted and the deplorable nature of these events needs to be confronted, as much as we can at this distance. The fire bombing of Germany was no more to be celebrated than the bombing of Rotterdam or London or Stalingrad were. Let's not think modern warfare represents a positive evolution, it only shows us that the end is near.

Anyway, this is obviously a provocative book, and I think you should read it if you're interested in the run-up to World War II, but read other books on the subject too. You need to develop a historical context. As an example, all the items about the United States' attempts to build a Chinese air force so that it could bomb Japan make it seem as though Japan was unjustly provoked. I don't recall that he even mentioned the "Rape of Nanking".

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