Face-to-face killing

Author: (English) Joanna Bourke / Sun Ning
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: In this extraordinary work, Ms. Joanna Bourke asks us to reconsider everyone involved in war. Almost all authors who study war believe that fighting is a terrible thing, and soldiers rushing into battle are often forced to do so. After experiencing the horrors of war, they may become more sober and cautious, but more often, they are physically and mentally exhausted. Through a vast collection of soldiers' letters, diaries, memoirs, news reports, and other materials from World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam War, Ms. Bourke paints a picture entirely different from the usual. She argues that the gentle and kind people in daily life become fierce killers due to the structure of war. People seek to construct meaning from the chaos of war, one way being to take pleasure in it—especially through the "primitive" act of killing a living, breathing person. Ms. Bourke forces us to confront some unsettling realities of a society that readily engages in war. She tells us that many soldiers believe they are committing legitimate killings, and she presents substantial evidence to prove that war in the 20th century could easily transform into a violent game.