WEDEMEYER REPORTS:

by Gen. Albert C. Wedemeyer ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 17, 1958

This is the whole story behind the half-concealed story of the famous Wedemeyer Report of the Truman administration, a report that made more news by its suppression when it should have been released than if it had been aired at the time. In this book, Wedemeyer, a top military strategist, recv his military career, which in retrospect seems to be largely one of opposition to successive proposals of high command and top politicos in World War II. From his probing into the incendiary acts by which he felt that Roosevelt manoeuvered us into war, to his weighed opinion that the perilous world situation today is of our own making, General Wedemeyer reassesses each phase of the Allied invasion of Europe the Pacific war, and American policies in Asia, very specifically in relation to the struggle between the Chinese Nationalists and the Chinese Reds. A difficult position was his throughout as he became a Victory Program planner of a war he did not want. The picture of the haphazard, half-informed procedure of our strategists, the lack of coordination between the military, the diplomatic and the political arbiters, the absence of a concrete, definite and realizable aim seems, to him, to characterize the whole pattern of our program, in war and peace. Many interesting sidelights here on our allies as well as our own war leaders, as the British largely outmanoeuvred us in planning, and the Soviet in execution. One sees the inside friction and animosity; one sees too the vast logistic and political pressures. There follows the shift from the European theatre to the Asian, then from India to China, as he replaced the controversial Stilwell, finally his great contribution to understanding of the Nationalist cause add up to an important- if not always conclusive- presentation of the other side of the coin. The messy picture of collaboration, the allegations against key figures on the political front, the split with successive men at ambassadorial level (Hurley, Marshall, etc.) and the partial healing, the difficulties in executing the prescribed policies and the opposition to his recommendations made these years almost insupportable. In documenting our bankrupt Asian policy and the subsequent disseter he arrives at the conclusion that this was the war nobody won- and for which nobody will accept the blame. An exceedingly controversial book, sure to get press space. The publisher plans extensive advertising and publicity.

Pub Date: Nov. 17, 1958

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Holt

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1958

Categories: NONFICTION