The Best War Ever: America and World War II is a book written by Dr. Michael C. C. Adams (professor of history at Northern Kentucky University

Northern Kentucky University

|type = Public|president= Dr. James C. Votruba|city = Highland Heights|state = KY|country = U.S.|endowment = $68 million|students = 15,405|undergrad = 13,206|postgrad = 2,199|faculty = 1,159...

) which is a popular textbook in American history courses at many colleges and universities. The book was and first published by the Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University

The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...

 press in 1994 as part of its "American Moment" series, edited by University of Wisconsin–Madison

University of Wisconsin–Madison

The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...

 history professor Stanley I. Kutler. In a 2004 survey of American college history instructors, the book was voted #2 in the "most likely to plagiarize" category, finishing just behind Amusing the Million by John Kasson.

Main thesis and arguments

Adams argues that the historical memory of America's involvement in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 has been sanitized and replaced by a common set of misconceptions that borders on folklore

Folklore

Folklore consists of legends, music, oral history, proverbs, jokes, popular beliefs, fairy tales and customs that are the traditions of a culture, subculture, or group. It is also the set of practices through which those expressive genres are shared. The study of folklore is sometimes called...

. Adams specifically cites television

Television

Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 programs and motion pictures that have popularized the war as a morally just, popularly-supported conflict in which the Allies

Allies

In everyday English usage, allies are people, groups, or nations that have joined together in an association for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out between them...

 became the heroes and the Axis Powers

Axis Powers

The Axis powers , also known as the Axis alliance, Axis nations, Axis countries, or just the Axis, was an alignment of great powers during the mid-20th century that fought World War II against the Allies. It began in 1936 with treaties of friendship between Germany and Italy and between Germany and...

, most notably the Nazis and the Japanese, became villains. In this trope, all returning servicemen came back well-adjusted and suffered no mental illness, racial tensions did not exist, and all American soldiers fought with valor and honor. Adams contrasts the idea of the "Best War Ever" with the mythology

Mythology

The term mythology can refer either to the study of myths, or to a body or collection of myths. As examples, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece...

 surrounding the Vietnam War

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

 and concludes that the juxtaposition of these two military engagements and their striking differences help reinforce the popular notions surrounding World War II.

Reception

Professional historians lauded Adams for his willingness to challenge stereotypes surrounding the war. J.T. Hansen, writing in the Journal of American History

Journal of American History

The Journal of American History is the official academic journal of the Organization of American Historians. It covers the field of American history and was established in 1914 as the Mississippi Valley Historical Review, the official journal of the Mississippi Valley Historical Association...

, said that the book should be "required reading for the writers of jingoistic accounts of World War II.
Temple University

Temple University

Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...

 professor David Farber also praised Adams for his clear writing style and his comparison of actor

Actor

An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

 John Wayne

John Wayne

Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...

, one of the most recognizable symbols of American bravery in World War II movies, with Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan

Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....

, a president who, according to Adams, used the World War II mythology to justify his policies and political style while in office.
Overall, the reviews in the major historical journals were very favorable.

Anecdotes

Adams lists a number of historical anecdotes as evidence to his overarching arguments. These include:

The Ball Gunner

Adams takes issue with the glamorization of the "ball gunners," the crew members on B-17 missions who operated the bottom turret guns. Adams uses a magazine

Magazine

Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...

 advertisement to illustrate the romantic view of the war that advertisers and the American government portrayed at home. A copy of a magazine ad featured the ball gunner under the headline "Giving 'Em Hell in a Goldfish Bowl." Adams contrasts this with the poem The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner

The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner

The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner is a five-line poem by Randall Jarrell published in 1945. It is about the death of a gunner in a Sperry ball turret on a World War II American bomber aircraft.From my mother's sleep I fell into the State,...

 by Randall Jarrell

Randall Jarrell

Randall Jarrell was an American poet, literary critic, children's author, essayist, and novelist. He was the 11th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress, a role which now holds the title of US Poet Laureate.-Life:Jarrell was a native of Nashville, Tennessee...

, which depicts the gruesome death of a ball gunner who was literally blown to bits by a shrapnel explosion.

List of chapters

1. Mythmaking and the War
2. No Easy Answers
3. The Patterns of War, 1939-1945
4. The American War Machine
5. Overseas
6. Home Front Change
7. A New World