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0922915865
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War Is a Racket

The Anti-War Classic by America's Most Decorated General, Two Other Anti=Interventionist Tracts, and Photographs from the Horror of It

by Smedley D. Butler


ISBN: 0922915865
ISBN-13: 9780922915866
Format: Paperback

Summary

This short, scathing, antiwar classic from the 1930s is an exposé of profiteering and the horrors of war. WAR IS A RACKET resonated with the American public, many of whom had experienced the First World War and who were in the midst of the Great Depression. It was even published as a Reader's Digest Condensed Book. WAR IS A RACKET gets its credentials from the fact that its author was a highly decorated Brigadier General, a US Marine who had served the very interests he later critiques. It was those experiences abroad-in Mexico, Haiti, Cuba, and elsewhere-that opened his eyes to the real agendas that were taking place. He presents ample evidence of the corporate fleecing of America, such as a company that sold wrenches to the US that were sized to work with nuts that only they manufactured. And he reports on how soldiers were billed for necessary equipment in a way reminiscent of the old company store. In its central point, Smedley D. Butler's pamphlet is about ending war. He argues for neutrality and isolationism, and proposes an amendment to the Constitution on peace. World War II rendered his positions unpopular, yet Butler was ahead of his time. Years later, another former general, President Eisenhower, warned the country about what he termed the "military-industrial complex," and, later still, television shows like 60 MINUTES were to report on corporations whose contracts with government took the American people for a ride.

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Bibliographic Details

Publisher: Feral House
Published date: 2003
Size: 5.5 x 8.25 inches
Weight: 0.2 pounds

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1) War Is a Racket: The Anti-War Classic by America's Most Decorated General, Two Other Anti=Interventionist Tracts, and Photographs from the Horror of It
Smedley D. Butler

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Smedley D. Butler

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3) War Is a Racket: The Anti-War Classic by America's Most Decorated General, Two Other Anti-Interventionist Tracts, and Photographs from The Horror of It
Butler, Smedley D

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Smedley D. Butler

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8) War Is a Racket: The Anti-War Classic by America's Most Decorated General, Two Other Anti=Interventionist Tracts, and Photographs from the Horror
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BUTLER, SMEDLEY D

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