This Is Not Who We Are

By Zachary Shore,

Book cover of This Is Not Who We Are: America's Struggle Between Vengeance and Virtue

Book description

What kind of country is America? Zachary Shore tackles this polarizing question by spotlighting some of the most morally muddled matters of WWII. Should Japanese Americans be moved from the west coast to prevent sabotage? Should the German people be made to starve as punishment for launching the war? Should…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked This Is Not Who We Are as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

I think Zachary Shore is one of our most underappreciated, insightful interpreters of American and global history.

Shore impressed me with his unique method of examining micro-events that give us a much wider view of American culture. He shows how America, at its best, can be a strong and moral guiding force for good in the world, but he doesn't shy from divulging the darker sides of the American psyche, such as the blunders that lead American leaders to make terrible and consequential military decisions.

Shore is not only a great historian but also a gifted writer. This book showed…

From Elliot's list on war and collective memory.

If you love This Is Not Who We Are...

Ad

Book cover of Harry and Arthur: Truman, Vandenberg, and the Partnership That Created the Free World

Harry and Arthur by Lawrence J. Haas,

With Franklin Roosevelt’s death in April 1945, Vice President Harry Truman and Senator Arthur Vandenberg, the Republican leader on foreign policy, inherited a world in turmoil. With Europe flattened and the Soviets emerging as America’s new adversary, Truman and Vandenberg built a tight, bipartisan partnership at a bitterly partisan time…

Want books like This Is Not Who We Are?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like This Is Not Who We Are.

Browse books like This Is Not Who We Are

Book cover of The Great War and Modern Memory
Book cover of Rites of Spring: The Great War and the Birth of the Modern Age
Book cover of The World Remade: America in World War I

Share your top 3 reads of 2024!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,867

readers submitted
so far, will you?

Ad

📚 If you like This Is Not Who We Are, you might also like...

Book cover of Need to Know: World War II and the Rise of American Intelligence

Need to Know by Nicholas Reynolds,

The authoritative but accessible history of the birth of modern American intelligence in World War II that treats not just one but all of the various disciplines: spies, codebreakers, saboteurs.

Told in a relatable style that focuses on actual people, it was a New Yorker "Best of 2022" selection and…

Book cover of Who Is a Worthy Mother?: An Intimate History of Adoption

Who Is a Worthy Mother? by Rebecca Wellington,

I grew up thinking that being adopted didn’t matter. I was wrong. This book is my journey uncovering the significance and true history of adoption practices in America. Now, in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, the renewed debate over women’s reproductive rights places…

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in presidential biography, World War 1, and Germany?

World War 1 940 books
Germany 494 books