V Was for Victory....

V Was for Victory: Politics and American Culture During WWII . John Morton Blum. New York and London: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. 1976.

This next book to be reviewed is the story of American propaganda during World War II. If you want an example of this propaganda, all you have to do is rent a copy of the DVD, Buck Privates, with Abbott and Costello. The film says that the American soldier is the luckiest man alive because he is being fed and trained for war by his fellow Americans from the greatest country in the world: "You're a lucky fellow, Mr. Smith" is the theme song sung by the Andrews Sisters. The movie demonstrates how men of the armed forces, supported by their women in uniform, must act as a team in order to win the war. Some of Abbott and Costello's funniest gags are incorporated into the film. But it is pure propaganda. Ray S.