Judith Keene - Böcker

This work traces the extraordinary journeys of three World War II radio broadcasters in Germany and Japan whose wartime choices became treason in Britain, Australia, and the United States. John Amery, a member of a well-connected British family, joined Hitler's propagandists in Berlin. He was executed for treason by Britain after the war. Charles Cousens was a soldier in Japanese captivity when he was put to work on Radio Tokyo with a team of Allied POWs. Cousens was later tried as a traitor in Australia. Iva Toguri, better known as Tokyo Rose, was an American student visiting Japan when war broke out. She broadcast her English show on Radio Tokyo out of necessity rather than conviction. The United States jailed Toguri for treason. Through these powerful stories, this work not only sheds new light on the history of wartime radio broadcasting in Germany and Japan, but also examines the laws of treason in Britain, Australia, and the United States and the ways in which trials such as these helped shape modern-day treason trials. All three accounts provoke thoughtful questions as to the nature of justice—and the justice of retribution. This work traces the extraordinary journeys of three World War II radio broadcasters in Germany and Japan whose wartime choices became treason in Britain, Australia, and the United States.

Treason on the Airwaves traces the journeys of three World War II radio broadcasters whose wartime choices became treason in Britain, Australia, and the United States. John Amery was a virulent anti-Semite and member of a highly respected British family who joined Hitler's propagandists in Berlin and was executed for treason after the war. Charles Cousens, a popular radio personality at home in Australia, was a soldier in Japanese captivity who was put to work on Radio Tokyo and later tried as a traitor. Iva Toguri, better known as "Tokyo Rose," was an American student visiting relatives in Japan when war broke out. She broadcast her English-language show on Radio Tokyo out of necessity rather than conviction. The United States jailed Toguri for treason. These three powerful stories provide an overview of the way in which the three nations dealt with suspected collaborators after the war. Judidth Keene also examines the significance of radio propaganda during World War II and the techniques the Germans and the Japanese used to engage listeners. All three accounts provoke questions about the nature of justice—and the justice of retribution.

One of the enduring myths of the Franco state was that the Nationalist forces that won the Civil War consisted of patriotic Spaniards while the Republic was defended by a rag tag army of foreign 'reds.' During the Spanish Civil War, however, many groups on the European right were galvanised by the Nationalist cause. European fascists, conservative Catholics and those uneasy with liberal democracy in general rallied to the figure of Franco, who appeared to be holding the line against secularism, modernism and Bolshevism. This book recounts the experiences of a number of foreign volunteers, including the brigades of White Russians, Romanians, Irish and the French volunteers in the Jeanne d'Arc battalion, all of whom saw their engagement in Spain as a means of promoting their own political causes at home. There were also individual women and men, from the New World and the Old, who were moved by religion, politics or simply adventurism to join up with Franco. The book reconstructs their motivation and the mindset which took them to Spain. It thus casts a new light on Nationalist Spain and on the specific concerns of a wide variety of right-wing movements between the wars.