{"product_id":"traumatic-defeat-patrick-gallagher-9780700626441","title":"Traumatic Defeat: Pows, Mias, and National Mythmaking","description":"\u003cp\u003eWar breeds myths, especially those made up by the vanquished to explain or soften their loss. Occasionally the myths of the defeated center on prisoners of war (POWs) and those missing in action (MIAs) to justify the lost struggle, mute national guilt, and sometimes even reject the reality of defeat itself. \u003ci\u003eTraumatic Defeat\u003c\/i\u003e takes a close, comparative look at two cases of this kind of mythmaking--in West Germany in the wake of World War II and in the United States after the Vietnam War. The book examines a specific case of mythmaking that revolves around the ambiguity of missing men and the trauma resulting from their unresolved fates.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe \"secret camp myth,\" so called for the covert facilities where the missing supposedly survive, shared certain features in postwar Germany and America. Both nations suffered extreme trauma and struggled to find redemptive elements in their wartime experiences; both focused on POWs and MIAs to minimize their guilt and recast themselves as victims of wars they had started. Author Patrick Gallagher examines the similarities between West Germany's myth aimed at men lost in the Soviet Union and America's myth directed at those missing in Southeast Asia. The differences, however, are instructive, particularly the longevity of the American myth involving a few thousand soldiers compared with the relative short life of the more plausible German version involving millions. In search of the nature and meaning of these myths, Gallagher takes us into the wars themselves, the circumstances in which soldiers went missing, and the manner in which each nation framed its losses according to its own political, ideological, and historical needs.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eTraumatic Defeat\u003c\/i\u003e, the first in-depth comparative study of this phenomenon, reveals how myths conjured in the trauma of military defeat can distort and dominate national conversations on the history of warfare, aftermath, and loss.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Patrick Gallagher\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0700626441\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780700626441\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University Press of Kansas\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/08\/2018\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 200\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.05lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.20h x 6.30w x 0.80d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 12\/01\/2018","brand":"Patrick Gallagher","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":49148191113471,"sku":"9780700626441","price":54.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/traumatic-defeat-patrick-gallagher-9780700626441","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}