Master historian not only makes WWII come alive, but recaptures what made America ‘Great’.
It’s a generational thing.
Distinguished historian Victor Davis Hanson was born in 1953, part of a generation that understands the importance of World War II every bit as much as “the Greatest Generation” itself.
Baby boomers – the sons and the daughters of those who had fought in Normandy and Iwo Jima, or served on the home front tending victory gardens and riveting B-17s in Seattle – were raised on black-and-white television. Selection was limited. There were only a few channels, and “content” ran heavily to old movies. World War II classics like “Flying Leathernecks” and “Guadalcanal Diary” were daily fare. Many of the new TV series – from “The Gallant Men” to “Combat!” to, yes, the small-screen version of “Twelve O’Clock High” – played up World War II themes.
The boomers were old enough to remember President Dwight Eisenhower, and to know that he was the same “Ike” who had led the great crusade across the battlefields of Europe. The war may have ended before they were born, but it was nevertheless a visceral part of modern memory for Hanson’s generation.
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