Upcoming book fairs and festivals. And watch our previous full coverage, but the book fairs down on her website. We put tv. Org. Cspan2. [background sounds] good afternoon. Thank you for coming to our last panel. The 4 00 oclock panel. World war ii. Im professor we put the university, this will last about 45 minutes. Then well have about 15 minutes for q a. An responses for our panel, bank representatives, do we have any in the room. Lets take them. Now i have the pleasure [applause] now i have the pleasure of introducing our moderator. James, who its not only an attorney we put the jackson law firm, but recently retired as a regular general we put the Mississippi AirNational Guard. Thank you for your service. [applause] loud [applause]. Welcome everyone to this panel of the afternoon. We want to extend a special welcome to those who might be watching us on cspan2. Im not sure how i ended up being the moderator hereur, i understand that john evans the owner of the bookstore from whom ive purchased many books on world war ii, suggested that i might be appropriate moderator. So i think john for that. I was born on april 24th, 1944, during world war ii. I was born six weeks before dday. My father was serving overseas as a Staff Sergeant in the Army National guard. Im sorry in the u. S. Army. World war ii is always in profound influence upon my family. Upon my childhood and indeed upon my entire life. In just a moment i will introduce all three of the distinguished authors who constitute our panel this afternoon. However before i do that, i would like to recognize anyone in the audience who may be a veteran of the United States armed forces. If you serve the United StatesArmy Navy Air force marine corps or coast guard or National Guard or reserve, would you please stand and be recognized. [applause] b anyone who mightve served during World War Two is veteran of that conflict. Let me now proceed we put the introduction of our three panelists. After ive introduced them, i will call upon each of themce to say a few words about his most recent book or other books about world war ii. We will then have a general discussion on significant conflict of the work. I know that everyone in the audience is actually want to hear about the panelists. We will try to save time at the end to receive your questions. Let me now introduce our panelists for medical leak. Im so looking at brief. But they have such impressive biographies that is very difficult to do. Our first panelist is michael dobbs, when he is the British American it was born in the press Brother Island in 1950. When he was educated at the university of york in england. When he was awarded a bachelor of arts degree in economic and social history in 1972. When he completed fellowships in both harvard and princeton and became an american citizen and 2010. Mr. Dobbs spent much of his career as a foreign correspondent. When he was covering the mean is him. When he served as the correspondent for agencies of the 1970s, when he then joined the Washington Post in 1980, and served as in the post Eastern Europe, when he also served as bureau chief for the newspaper in paris and in moscow when he is now a staff member of the us Holocaust Memorial museum. Mr. Dobbs who now lives in maryland, is the author of numerous books including one minute to midnight about the cuban missile crisis in 1962. His most recent book is entitled the unwanted. America and the village caught in between. This book is the story of jewish families in the small German Village of oppenheim, in the southwestern portion of germany. His narrative fresh swiss and french quarters. During the 1930s, the jewish and the community saw what was coming. Hitler was gaining increasing powder. Many of these jewish families attempted to escape to america. Some were successful and some are not. And ended up being murdered. The book discusses also, the immigration policies of the United States during that time. It raises troubling questions. But the immigration policy of the United States governmentn on president roosevelt. Our second author his mr. Kershaw, was born in york england in 1966, when he attended University College of oxford where when he studied and economics. When he taught history for a while before becomingcs a journalist for several british newspapers including the guardian. In the sunday times, his articles were appeared in numerous newspapers and manganese and when he has worked as a screenwriter and in television. Including being the narrator fon the History Channel last days of world war ii. Mr. Kirchoff has led several battlefields you wrote the National WorldWar Ii Museum in new orleans, when he is the author of several books on world war ii including the longest rotor about the bolo battle of the bulge and the bedford voice about to sacrifice extraordinarily large number of young scholz soldiers. In virginia. Mr. Kershaw his latest book is the first wave about the dday. In this book when he focuses upon the experiences of the very First American british and canadian soldiers who landed in normandy on june 6, 1944. Our third author down at the end is samuel, raised in tucson arizona, when he holds a bachelors degree from northwestern university. A doctorate degree and master relations from the university of oxford where when he was a marshall scholar and holds a law degree from ewell law school. When he served as a law clerk to judge lynch, on the us court of appeals for the second circuit, and is an advisor on International Trade negotiations in the office of the United States trade representative. When he is now an attorney we put distinguished new york city law firm. Of the american piloto waged a secret war against japan. This book was published just last year. I think most of you know light in tigers is the adventurous name given to the American Volunteer Group. American military pilots lived by the it gave medic in the flying thought they japanese and the skies of berlin, and in the skies of china. Both before and after pearl harbor. The flying tigers we put the passive approval of president roosevelt, and the american government, called on contract we put the Chinese Government led by shanghai. Mr. Kleiner, you completed most distinguished of authors. I would like to add to each of a hellenists intern, to Say Something about the recent book and perhaps some of the challenges you faced in writing the book. Mr. Dobbs would you go first. Mr. Dobbs thank you very much, its wonderful to be here. My book is about Us Immigration policy on president roosevelt. His during the years leading up to the holocaust in the early of world war ii. Its a very controversial subject. Theres been a lot of books attacking the president and others defending him. What i wanted to do was to integrate the story of what was happening in washington, the politicals of all that was goinn on in those years. And over immigration and refugee policy we put the stories of a specific group of people we put whom we could identify. People who are trying to reach the United States from nazi germany whose lives were in danger. Who are trying in order to survive, they need it to obtain what the american journalist Bertha Thompson called a piece of paper we put a stamp. Both of you lived or died, frequently depended on both of you could obtain this document. I looked at one single community, in the southwest of germany, given nine, the jewish family village. Particularly of the crystal it, the horrifying thing against the jews in november of 1938, they all understand that there only option is to get out of germany as quickly as possible. They all applied for american pieces. I describepp the challenges they face in getting the pieces and some succeed and some dont. People dont, end up being deported in 1942. Im trying to connect this political story, the chronic story and make it a human story. When i was a journalist, and Eastern Europe and the soviet union, covering the communism, i was often struck by the fact that the political debates in washington had very little to do we put what is actually happening on the ground. So i tried to connect the political storyne to the human story that was difficult to me. On one of the elements was of course, the assumption we put National Security. It would appear that if we let refugees into the country, they could pose a threat to us National Security. The germans could be trying to l filtrate the colonists. I nazi agents into the us. Ge closely enough another book i wrote about world war ii, it was about nazi agents who landed since here by submarine in 1943 and they landed in one group in florida and another group in long island. There were attempts by the germans to infiltrate the United States. This wasnt just a fantasy. It wasnt just the literal rhetoric. The question is did i try to examine in the book i think is still a topical question. Is one of the right to balance between humanitarianism and National Security policy. I think if you are in my book, it will come away we put your own ideas on that. Theres probably enough for now. Thank you. So that we just celebrated the 75th anniversary of dday. One flew more than two months ago. Mr. Kershaw is written about dday in the first wave. Telling us a story of a lighter pilots and paratroopers rangers and other soldiers who led the invasion of normandy. Mr. Kershaw to tell us about your book in the challenges you face in writing it. Kirchoff its great to be he here. 98 degrees. [laughter] it was 57 degrees on dday. That was cold. I think i prefer that. I am a worshiper, i spent 25 years of my life celebrating and spending a lot of time we put actually mostly workingclass americans who liberated europe a place we all love. And for the 75th anniversary, i was unashamed of the commercial because i have to make a living because writing about world war ii and i thought what a fantastic opportunity on the 75th anniversary to celebrate the guys that ive always worshiped most. Or i thought i did. The most important jobs so i took 12 combat commanders and six american or british into canadian, central bit. And i added one frenchman. [laughter] actually commander a french commander who landed in the first way. My idea was that i was going to take these 12 junior combat commanders and have them in the highest rank was a colonel. You hear me. And i was going to tell a story of these amazing combat mammanders who have the Toughest Missions in the highest stake in the most likely to die if they did it. Indeed they wouldve failed. And to celebrate them. I the First American come ashore in utah, 28 yearold shame in from maryland. Zero, this one. Sorry. Anyway, its about dday. Thank you. [laughter] coolest guys on dday. The flying tire card tigers the pilots who in their short nosese aircraft, often japanesen the early days of work. Their exploits were highly publicized. In 1951 when i was a seven yearold boy, living at fort knox kentucky, my father 7 was then called to active duty. I first saw television on louisville television station. There was a w program entitled e flying tigers. I ordered through that Television Program my own flying tigers secret decoder ring. [laughter] s from the Cereal Companies box ring. I remember as a boy seeing the movie the flying tigers starring john wayne. Please tell us a bit about your book. Thank you so much is wonderful to be here in jacksonr to see so many friends here. My book as you mentioned is about this very famouss at the very beginning of world war ii. Actually there for pearl harbor, sitting american pilots in these before the planes to help the chinese who are fighting against the japanese. I tell that mary mythologized story through the lens of the men and some women who were part of that unit. I was led by the egg make mattie to us from the backwoods of louisiana. Young guys who sign up for the sense of adventure. They find themselves in training in a remote base in vermont. When pearl harbor happens, they are essentially stuck on the strong side of the world. They quickly become the First Americans pilots to fight back against the japanese after the devastating attack in pearl harbor. They are short nose p40s quickly become quickly become one of the iconic images. Hollywood recognizes them and the rush out in 1941 the john wayne movie, based on their stories. They quickly became some of the most famous americans in world war ii. And when i wanted to do we put this book which shame out of some of my graduate work at oxford, was really to write the true story of this unit so i got to meet the last survivor. When he is still living down in georgia. His name is frankeo, i got to mt the families of so many of these pilots are going to flying tigers reunion. Through assembling primary documents, letters, diaries, combat reports and looking at Old Newspaper clippings i was able to put together the two story what it wasf like to be oe of these flying tigers. Burma china and early days of world war ii. Really for me, the book is dedicated to both of my grandfathers. I believey there watching on to cspan2 right now. hi and father otis miller it ws a dr. During the war, and a grandfather her recliner was navigator on the 25 in the pacific. And growing up, i would get to go we put her into see a lot of the planes that were in the airspace museum in tucson arizona where i grew up. I want to acknowledge we put the generation had done. I think is the animating theme for all of us here. This is every really important moment in history wherever you know. It truly was a global war in our book stand the globe. But there was a lot of heroism and a lot of important stories that are still worth remembering many years later. Soon i thank you. World war ii was the most cataclysmic if it of the 20 century and perhaps of all time. The work was unrelenting in his destruction of property and into the depths of a person his all over the world. No one knows how many people died in world war ii. The best range between 55 million peoplero in 60 millin people. Including many civilians. There are approximately 30 Million Deaths in the soviet union alone. We put two thirds of those being soviets civilians. There were approximately 15 million chinese killed. Approximately 6 million holes killed. Many of them are ap by the nazis but also they were jews. Deaths in yugoslavia totaling proximally 2 million. Germany lost 4 million and upon loss of million. Italys casualties were. About 300,000. Britain lost some 400,000 soldiers and civilians. After the United States entered the war, in 1941, approximately 400 or 500,000 servicemen died. Before the japanese surrendered in 1945. The work forever changed americans. The United States the most powerful nation in the world. In the were brought United States on the world stage as the leading player. The effects of world war ii are still being felt today. More than 5000 books have been published on world war ii. In books continued to come off of the presses and illustrated by the books that are authors have just published. I like to ask a palace to discuss the current state of o world war ii historiography. Set a lot of secret government archives opened recent years. Information is now available it wouldve not been available 15 or 20 years ago. Mr. Dobbs would you like to comment upon about that and any problems that you had finding sources for your work. Mr. Dobbs the oral histories are no longer the most important after all the people have participated in dday, have passed away. In my own field, fewer and fewer survivors of the holocaust. By contrast,t, there is still a huge amount that one can discover new things. Whenever you go to the archives, and begin the archives, they give us a better understanding of what actually happened. I think that we are getting more balanced view of world war of the events of the work. I was a reporter as you mentioned it in the soviet union for a long time. A lot of books that were written about the war, t that are focu d focusedfrom the washington po post, the cactus can wrote three books about how the dill liberation trilogy. It is about the american role in the Second World War. Er i think we are now beginning to explore the role of other countries, the role of the soviet union. We are beginning to sort of integrate the last few years particularly since a huge amount of material is coming from the hard times of the soviet bloc. We are trying to integrate their stories we put the stories that are being familiar we put in the west. It i think you are a lot more to be done that. I think theres more to be understood about the relative sacrifices of russia and ameri america. In historiography, the kind of faces,in pays were the victors write their own history. Theres the phase where the phase of questioning. And there is finally a base that is a sort of synthesis of trying to draw on all of the evidence. I think thats the phase we are in at the moment. Kershaw i think some of the institutions have done amazing jobs in the last 20 to 30 years knowing that officially, the year is 2023 when the Us Government will accept that world war ii veterans for all intensive purposes existed. We are really at the very end of the socalled greatest generation which is t