The Winds of War

Peace, if it ever exists, will not be based on the fear of war, but on the love of peace. It will not be the abstaining from an act, but the coming of a state of mind. In this sense the most insignificant writer can serve peace, where the most powerful tribunals can do nothing.

-Julien Benda, a French Jew

So reads the quotation in the foreword to The Winds of War, by Herman Wouk. This book is without a doubt the best $0.25 I have ever spent. War is an epic novel of World War II. It follows the Henry family from the summer of 1939 up until December of 1941, just after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The Henrys are the archetypical Navy family. Victor "Pug" Henry is a captain, getting up there in age, watching his Annapolis classmates get promotions and prestigious commands while he remains stuck on land. He yearns for command of a "battlewagon" - one of the several battleships which symbolize the United States' naval power. His wife, Rhoda, feels the same way, and though their marriage is strong, it grows stale. She envies the wives of Pug's more successful peers. The Henrys' eldest son, Warren, is a cocksure young lieutenant who becomes a naval aviator, flying the Douglass SBD Dauntless. Byron, although he was Navy ROTC, is a nominal academic, having pursued a somewhat aimless career in art history. He is now off in Italy, working for a famous Jewish author and his niece. Eventually he becomes a submariner as the likelihood of the US entering the war grows greater. Madeline has just graduated from college and is on her own in New York City, working in the glamorous radio business - much to the chagrin of conservative, religious Pug.

The book is about the lead-up to America's entrance into the war, and describes in detail the mentality in the US before Pearl Harbor. Many characters in the book - Americans and Britons among others - respect Hitler as a leader for having reinvigorated Germany after the embarrassment of Versailles. Although many agree that some of Hitler's anti-Semitic policies are "excessive," there is little in the way of sympathy for European Jews from the average American. Wouk does a good job of capturing the insidious anti-Semitism of the period - both the subtle, casual anti-Semitism manifested in offhand comments and the "us and them" mentality of people like the otherwise virtuous Henry; and the blatant, pervasive racism that gave Hitler and his cronies the moral authority to perpetrate unprecedented evil against the European Jewry, culminating in the Holocaust.

The Henry family is buffeted by the winds of war: Hitler's invasion of Poland and the Sitzkrieg; the invasions of France and Norway; the Battle of Britain; the invasion of the Soviet Union; and the attack on Pearl Harbor. In the midst of all this the Henry sons fall in love and Pug and Rhoda's marriage is put to the test as Pug is off in numerous countries as special naval attaché. Although this is still a desk job, it is important, and provides him not only with the ear of President Roosevelt, but also gives him the opportunity to meet a cast of the major characters of the period - Hitler, Ribbentrop, Goering, Mussolini, Churchill, and Stalin. While the scenario perhaps stretches credibility a bit, it provides the reader with an excellent opportunity to "meet" these imposing historical personages and makes for fascinating reading.

There's so much going on that it's impossible to touch upon everything, but the reader sees most of the major events of the initial years of war either directly through the novel's main characters (Byron finds himself caught in Warsaw during the blitzkrieg, for instance) or indirectly as news of events in Europe reach America. Although it is widely believed that America will not fight a war to "save the Jews," the threat of Japan in the Pacific is growing and war with the Empire of the rising Sun is seen as inevitable.

The Winds of War is an excellent novel. One of the best I have read. Its scope is impressive and its characters are compelling. As a history buff, I found its attention to detail and historical accuracy amazing. As major events occur in the novel, Wouk provides excerpts from World Empire Lost, a historical work by the fictional German General Armin von Roon, translated into English after the war by Victor Henry. These excerpts provide the reader with a historical exposition of sorts to help the reader understand the big picture of the war as it develops, and also show the German point of view. Very interesting to read.

Despite the fact that it's a 1,000-plus page novel, it feels like an introduction. It was surprisingly readable for a novel of its size and depth, and it was probably the fastest 1,000 pages I've ever read. It ends just as Congress votes for a declaration of war on the Empire of Japan, with the so-called Arsenal of Democracy gearing up to defeat fascism on both sides of the globe. I am very much looking forward to reading the sequel, War and Remembrance. I recommend this highly.