World War II — Bunk History

The French battleship Richelieu being maneuvered by tugboats up the East River for repairs and refitting.

A Helluva Town

A new history of New York City during World War II captures the glory, tawdriness, poverty, narcissism, beauty, and grime of this “aggregation of villages.”

by Brenda Wineapple via New York Review of Books on October 9, 2025

A painting of a desolated, ruined street.

Defeating Death Only with Death

On civilians’ opinion of killing civilians by air during World War II.

by Cormac Ó Gráda via HNN on September 10, 2024

Men and women working in a factory during World War 2.

Dispelling the WWII Productivity Myth

Generally speaking, emergencies tend to reduce productivity, at least in the short and medium terms.

by Alberto Mingardi via Law & Liberty on July 30, 2024

Japanese prime minister and minister of war Hideki Tojo on trial in 1947.

Japan’s Incomplete Reckoning With World War II Crimes

Gary Bass’s new book asks why the tribunal in Tokyo after World War II was so ineffective.

by Aryeh Neier via The New Republic on December 7, 2023

Soldier in foliage drawing

How Prisoners Contributed During World War II

Prisoners not only supported the war effort in surprising ways during World War II, they fought and died in it.

by Morgan Godvin, David Dressler, Frank T. Flynn, Gordon Hawkins via JSTOR Daily on May 26, 2023

Actor Tom Hanks and President George W. Bush stand on stage at the dedication of the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. on May 29, 2004.

Destructive Myths

Romanticized stories about the Second World War are at the heart of American exceptionalism.

by Jeff Faux via Dissent on August 30, 2022

The correspondent Ernie Pyle (center) talking with marines on a U.S. Navy transport in March 1945.

Has the Myth of the ‘Good War’ Done Us Lasting Harm?

Elizabeth Samet argues that an idealized narrative of America’s actions in World War II has colored our beliefs about warfare in detrimental ways.

by Ben Rhodes via New York Times on December 1, 2021

We Remember World War II Wrong

In the middle of the biggest international crisis ever since, it’s time to admit what the war was—and wasn’t.

by Adam Tooze via Foreign Policy on May 7, 2020

Here Comes the D-Day Myth Again

The Allied invasion of France was an important step in the war against the Nazis. But it was by no means a turning point.

by Kevin Kennedy via HNN on June 6, 2019

The Light of Battle Was in Their Eyes

The correspondence of Generals Dwight D. Eisenhower and George C. Marshall leading up to D-Day.

by Meredith Hindley via Humanities on June 5, 2019

'I Love America': Fundamentalist Responses to World War II

The fundamentalist movement took the war as an opportunity to rebrand.

by Anderson Rouse via Process: A Blog for American History on March 12, 2019

Brothers in Arms

The secrets and service of a World War II family, 76 years after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

by Dan Lamothe via Washington Post on December 6, 2017

The Real Refugees of Casablanca

When it came to gathering refugees, the waiting room of the US consulate was probably the closest thing to Rick’s Café Américain.

by Meredith Hindley via Longreads on November 23, 2017

How My Grandfathers Proved Their Loyalty to America

The stories of two American soldiers – one part German, the other born in Japan – challenge our romantic view of the "Greatest Generation."

by Willy Blackmore via Pacific Standard on June 30, 2016

A collage of the American flag.

My Father’s Flag and the Idea of America

Over decades, and through harrowing experiences, my family held on to this bit of cloth as a reminder of everything they believed in—and were running toward.

by Laurence H. Tribe via The Bulwark on November 7, 2025

A teletype portrait of Curtis LeMay.

"I Have Sought to Slaughter as Few Civilians as Possible."

The rabid, apocalyptic Beat poetry that is "Mission with LeMay."

by Alex Wellerstein via Doomsday Machines on October 16, 2025

Drawing of Adolph Hitler with its shadow being the pointed hood worn by members of the Ku Klux Klan.

When the Black Press Stood by the Jews Against the Nazis

This important but little-known chapter of Black-Jewish history in the United States is worth remembering.

by Dan Freedman via Moment on September 10, 2025

General Douglas MacArthur and Emperor Hirohito at the US embassy in Tokyo in 1945.

After Hiroshima: The US Occupation of Japan

Following Japan’s unconditional surrender in September 1945, the US aimed to rebuild the nation in its own image – for better or worse.

by Christopher Harding via History Today on August 28, 2025

A nuclear explosion mushroom cloud.

What Do We Forget When We Remember Hiroshima?

Eighty years of talking peace and preparing for nuclear war.

by Eric Ross via Tom Dispatch on August 12, 2025

An illustration of a man and a woman kissing behind a Navy ship sinking into the ocean.

Eight Decades On, Vanuatu Still Struggles With America’s World War II Legacy

Americans’ love affair with the South Pacific masks the US Navy’s devastating impact on the region’s people and environment.

by Joanne Drayton via New Lines on August 8, 2025

Kurt Vonnegut portrait composed of dots.

The Making of Kurt Vonnegut’s ‘Cat’s Cradle’

How the novelist turned the violence and randomness of war into a cosmic joke.

by Noah Hawley via The Atlantic on July 2, 2025

An illustration of blurry Korean people in the ruins of a city after a nuclear bombing.

The Atomic Bombs’ Forgotten Korean Victims

Survivors of the nuclear blasts in Hiroshima and Nagasaki are still fighting for recognition.

by E. Tammy Kim via The New Yorker on June 16, 2025

Still from "Monuments Men" of warehouse of items confiscated by Nazis.

Secrets in the Stacks

A new book demonstrates that the skills taught and honed in the humanities are of vital importance to the defense of democracy.

by Richard Ovenden via Public Books on May 22, 2025

Women pilots in front of a plane.

How a Group of Fearless American Women Defied Convention to Defeat the Nazis

On the “Atta-Girls,” the pilots who chased adventure during the Second World War.

by Becky Aikman via Literary Hub on May 8, 2025

Japanese American National Museum Volunteer Barbara Keimi stamps the Ireichō

The Japanese American National Museum Is a Site of Remembrance and Belonging

The Japanese American National Museum embraces the Japanese-American experience in all its permutations.

by Seph Rodney via Hyperallergic on April 2, 2025

The US Used the Alien Enemies Act to Detain Their Families. Now, They are Watching History Repeat

During World War II, the law justified the imprisonment of thousands like Heidi Gurcke Donald.

by Isabela Dias via Mother Jones on March 18, 2025

French Gen. Jean de Rochambeau and American Gen. George Washington giving the last orders in October 1781 for the battle at Yorktown.

How Allies Have Helped the US Gain Independence, Defend Freedom and Keep the Peace

Why should a country want or need allies? President Donald Trump and his followers seem to disdain the idea. So did George Washington.

by Donald Heflin via The Conversation on February 20, 2025

A bulldozer juxtapositioned with destroyed buildings and barren land.

The Shrouded, Sinister History Of The Bulldozer

From India to the Amazon to Israel, bulldozers have left a path of destruction that offers a cautionary tale for how technology can be misused.

by Joe Zadeh via Noema on February 20, 2025

Meeting of delegates to approve the Charter of the United Nations, San Francisco, 1945.

Origins of the UN: The US and USSR

The genesis of the United Nations came from the nations united as Allies against the Axis powers, but who really pushed the institution into being?

by Stephen Wertheim, Matthew Wills, Geoffrey Roberts via JSTOR Daily on February 9, 2025

The Naval Scientist Who Wanted To Know How Football Players Would Survive Nuclear War

It wouldn’t take much, the fan explained, just some radioactive material inside the players, who would then undergo a physical examination.

by Chris Roberts via Defector on January 24, 2025

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