A New Book and a Forthcoming Online Course
Greta Zarro / World BEYOND War
(September 16, 2020) — World BEYOND War is excited to announce our much-awaited online course on Debunking the Myths of World War II, starting October 5! The course will explore why WWII was not fought to rescue anyone from persecution, was not necessary for defense, was the most damaging and destructive event yet to occur, and could have been prevented by avoiding any of several bad decisions. This promises to be a lively discussion!
For more information and to register for the course, Click Here.
Greta Zarro is the Organizing Director of World BEYOND War
Leaving World War II Behind
A new book by David Swanson / World BEYOND War
Initial Reviews
“This is a book of wide synthesis and trenchant commentary. Keep it near to hand for those all-too-frequent moments when you hear someone using World War II to justify yet another horrific military adventure.” — Nicholson Baker, author, Human Smoke: The Beginnings of World War II, The End of Civilization
“Swanson demolishes the myths by amassing a huge number of facts, all carefully documented, and leaves us the true, if unpalatable but liberating, history of WWII.” — Kent D. Shifferd, author, From War To Peace: A Guide To The Next Hundred Years
“If you, like me, thought that WWII was the exceptional ‘good war,’ think again. David Swanson brilliantly cuts through the myths surrounding WWII, and in the process cuts through the fog of all wars.” — Medea Benjamin, cofounder, CODEPINK for Peace
“David Swanson passionately debunks many of the common arguments used to justify the horrific violence of WWII.” — Scott J. Shapiro, Professor, Yale Law School, coauthor, The Internationalists: How a Radical Plan to Outlaw War Remade the World
“This is a brave, passionate, brilliant book, which should be read by anyone who gives a damn about humanity’s future.” — John Horgan, science journalist and author, The End of War
“David Swanson shatters all the self-congratulatory distortions that justified US participation in the ‘good war’ of WWII.” — Ajamu Baraka, contributing columnist for the Black Agenda Report
“Leaving World War II Behind is a must read for everyone who works for peace.” — Margaret Kimberley, author, Prejudential: Black America and the Presidents
“In this book, revealing the hidden history of even our so-called ‘just war,’ Swanson will hopefully shock and awaken enough of us to reject war for all time.” — Thom Hartmann, author and radio host
“David Swanson’s latest, revelatory book challenges a long list of pervasive myths enshrined in both U.S. history books and Hollywood movies. Like a present-day Morpheus, Swanson invites readers to choose the ‘red pill’ that strips away the false matrix of morality from ‘The Great War.’ Swanson’s 18 chapters expose scores of uncomfortable truths. One example: Hitler’s rise was abetted by some of America’s most powerful corporations and business leaders. Wars are no longer waged for territory, Swanson notes: ‘they’re waged for weapons sales, fossil fuels, lusts for power, and bragging rights.’” — Gar Smith, co-founder of Environmentalists Against War and author of Nuclear Roulette and The War and Environment Reader
Leaving World War II Behind
By David Swanson
Table of Contents
- What WWII has to do with military spending
2. WWII was not fought to save anyone from death camps
3. WWII did not have to happen
4. The United States did not have to develop and promote the dangerous bunk science of eugenics
5. The United States did not have to develop the practice of racist segregation
6. The United States did not have to develop practices of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and concentration of people on reservations
7. The United States did not have to fund and arm the Nazis
8. The United States did not have to prioritize opposing the Soviet Union
9. The United States did not have to develop the pledge of allegiance and the one-arm salute
10. The United States welcomed Nazis into the US military
11. The United States did not have to engage in an arms race with Japan
12. WWII does not prove that violence is needed for defense
13. WWII was the worst thing humanity has done to itself and the earth in any short period of time
14. WWII in western culture is a dangerous set of myths
15. There was resistance to WWII in the United States
16. WWII created taxes
17. The world has changed: Hitler is not coming to get us
18. WWII and the case for war abolition
Sign up for an online course based on this book:
About the Author
Acknowledgements
Endnotes
ISBN paperback: 978-1-7347837-5-9
ISBN e-books: 978-1-7347837-4-2
Words: 97,694. Pages: 298. Endnotes: 571
Special Offer: Get a personalized, signed-by-the-author copy mailed to you as soon as available in the coming days by sending $50 or more (or signing up to donate $5 or more a month) and your name, address, and instructions through this website or by check made out to: David Swanson, 513 E Main St #1484, Charlottesville VA 22902 USA.
Available as a PDF, an EPUB, a (zipped) Kindle, and in a Zip folder with PDF, EPUB and Kindle. You can also get the Kindle from Amazon, or the Nook Book from Barnes & Noble. And you can get the PDF, EPUB, and Kindle from ebookit. Coming soon: the Audio Book (m4b), available on Audible.
Buy the paperback on Barnes & Noble, Amazon, or Powell’s.
Get a discount on orders of 10 or more paperbacks (this can include copies of this and my other books). Be sure to let me know how many of which books and where they need to be shipped, and I’ll let you know the cost.
