Friday, December 12, 2008
'Danger's Hour'
Jules is worried that Maxwell Taylor Kennedy might fall over the "cultural relativism cliff" in his new book, 'Danger's Hour: The Story of the USS Bunker Hill and the Kamikaze Pilot Who Crippled Her.' Jules acknowledges he might be jumping to conclusions and will report back later whether Kennedy has gone soft on Kamikaze pilots. I haven't read the book. But I'll give the benefit of the doubt to anyone named after Maxwell Taylor, the famous World War II general. (Kennedy got his first and middles names from his father, RFK, a big admirer of war heroes and Taylor in particular.) I also don't mind comparisons between Kamikaze and al-Qaeda suicide bombers, a point apparently running through Kennedy's book. It's important to understand how normal human beings can turn into fanatical killers. ... Here and here are some short favorable reviews of 'Danger's Hour.' ... Jules, a colleague at the Herald, and I got into a conversation the other day about another new Pacific War book, 'Retribution,' by Max Hastings. Hastings is no relativist. But he also doesn't pull punches about the savagery on both sides during the last two years of the war, thus the title 'Retribution.'
Jules is worried that Maxwell Taylor Kennedy might fall over the "cultural relativism cliff" in his new book, 'Danger's Hour: The Story of the USS Bunker Hill and the Kamikaze Pilot Who Crippled Her.' Jules acknowledges he might be jumping to conclusions and will report back later whether Kennedy has gone soft on Kamikaze pilots. I haven't read the book. But I'll give the benefit of the doubt to anyone named after Maxwell Taylor, the famous World War II general. (Kennedy got his first and middles names from his father, RFK, a big admirer of war heroes and Taylor in particular.) I also don't mind comparisons between Kamikaze and al-Qaeda suicide bombers, a point apparently running through Kennedy's book. It's important to understand how normal human beings can turn into fanatical killers. ... Here and here are some short favorable reviews of 'Danger's Hour.' ... Jules, a colleague at the Herald, and I got into a conversation the other day about another new Pacific War book, 'Retribution,' by Max Hastings. Hastings is no relativist. But he also doesn't pull punches about the savagery on both sides during the last two years of the war, thus the title 'Retribution.'
