War Is... Soldiers, Survivors and Storytellers Talk about War [Paperback]

In a provocative anthology, two editors with opposing viewpoints present an unflinching collection of works reflecting on the nature of war.

Marc Aronson thinks war is inevitable. Patty Campbell thinks war is cruel, deceptive, and wrong. But both agree on one thing: that teens need to hear the truthful voices of those who have experienced war firsthand. The result is this dynamic selection of essays, memoirs, letters, and fiction from nearly than twenty contributors, both contemporary and historical — ranging from Christian Bauman's wrenching Letter to a Young Enlistee to Chris Hedges's unflinching look at combat to Fumiko Miura's Nagasaki memoir, A Survivor's Tale. Whether the speaker is Mark Twain, World War II correspondent Ernie Pyle, or a soldier writing a miliblog, these divergent pieces look war straight in the face — and provide an invaluable resource for teenagers today.With this collection, Aronson and Campbell have provided an uncommonly valuable source of hard information and perceptive insight."
—Booklist (starred review)WAR IS . . . ?
an introduction by Patty Campbell

WAR IS . . .
CRAZY. Looked at without its veil of noble causes and glory, war is insanity, as Mark Twain so deftly observes in "The War Prayer," a story that was deemed so controversial that it was not published until thirteen years after his death. For the people of one country to try to kill as many of the people of another country as possible makes no sense at all, in terms of our common humanity. Yet . . .

WAR IS . . .
HISTORY. The story of civilization has always been told in terms of a progression of wars. We have always waged war against one another, and the leaders of those wars are the people who are praised or deplored in our memories. The artists, the composers, the architects, the actors and dancers, the women and children, daily life and religion — these matters we leave to the archaeologists al3*