Unfortunately, this view conveniently ignored all the facts, such as the Chicago School aphorism that all bubbles are monetary bubbles: the Dow’s rise from 200 to 381 between Spring 1927 and Summer 1929 was caused solely by the Fed’s printing presses; and the disaster of 1937—the infamous Depression Within A Depression—was caused by the ill-advised Excess Profits tax, much along the lines of the today’s policies of “Super Tax The 1%” (France has already implemented this. Plus ça change…).
A survey a few years ago showed that of 900 college history teachers surveyed in the U.S., 830 were registered Democrats; it’s likely Europe is even more unbalanced. With this bias, it is very unlikely that the truth will ever be told about “the wise old bird” (Roosevelt’s self-serving description of himself).
The photographs Rex shows Louise are depicted in Shlaes’s book.
• Tooze, J. Adam. The Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy. New York: Viking, 2007.
This book is seminal—most of the thousands of books about the Second World War in Europe speak in terms of battles and armies, and mostly focusing on the wrong battles at that (the five leading battles were all on Russian territory).
Tooze’s book is how all history should be written—starting with the most important aspect first, namely the money. This is the major theme of The Goddess—Sasaki’s printing press, etc. Wages is both engrossing and well written. The Notes section alone is pure gold dust. Wages suggests the obvious question: how did the Third Reich survive until 1945? It certainly wasn’t because of the leadership from the top. It is clear that Germany could have won had Jodl, Model, Rundstedt, et al, done the strategic planning rather than the mad-cap Alice-in-Wonderland nonsense that actually occurred. It’s one thing to be an opportunist, it’s another thing to confuse beginner’s luck with professional acumen, and very short-lived luck at that (Greece in summer 1941 was the Austrian’s last victory).
• Keegan, John. The First World War. New York: A. Knopf, 1999.
All books by the late John Keegan are a pleasure to read; his book on the World War I is no exception. The description of terror and misery of the British soldiers during the Somme is an abstraction from this book. (I was in Bermuda three years ago and read a gravestone in a Hamilton churchyard for a soldier who died on August 15, 1916, “From wounds received on the river Somme.”)
• Beevor, Antony. The Spanish Civil War. New York: P. Bedrick, 1983.
Fat Herman’s double-dealing via the Bramhill is described in Beevor’s book, as is the description of the horrors of the Lincoln Brigade, and the Battle of Brunete.
• Manchester, William. The Arms of Krupp. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1968.
Jodl’s comments of 1870 are based on Manchester’s description of the effects of the rifled cast steel Krupp cannon, as is the presence of the two American generals. (Burnside and Sheridan are changed to Sherman and Sheridan—better alliteration.)
The Kaiser’s horror-filled evening in 1901 is described in detail by Manchester; Jules Verne’s submarine is converted to a space ship, “the engine is constructed of the finest steel in the world, cast ‘by Krupp in Prussia.’”
• Heller, Anne Conover. Ayn Rand and the World She Made. New York: Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 2009.
This book is an extremely interesting description of Ayn Rand and her acolytes. It is the basis of Speer’s visit to Barcelona. The train conversation is based on two likely candidates for the U.S. Presidency in 2016; I will let the reader deduce who they are; there are more than sufficient hints.
Other Sources
The Esquire article is F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Crack-Up” (Esquire, February, March, and April 1936). I learned of this from a quote in a John le Carré novel—Smiley is asked by Roy Bland, “who said ‘the test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time?’” The article is available online.
The Confederate one hundred dollar bill was bought on eBay for six U.S. dollars; good Union money.
Senator Beveridge’s 1900 speech is quoted verbatim and the complete speech is available online.
“Tim” is, of course, the English traitor Harold Adrian Russell “Kim” Philby.
Secretary of War Henry Stimson’s diaries are quoted verbatim.
Morgenthau’s notes, quoted verbatim, are from his appearance in front of the House Ways and Means Committee in May 1939.
“Cigar” and “The Diplomat” were nicknames of Curtis LeMay, Milch’s counterpart.
The “hairy hand in the ice bowl” is taken from a description of Lord Beaverbrook.
A “damn close run” is a slight misquoting of Wellington’s comment on Waterloo.
“{W}here bed and boys were also not expensive” is from Michael Holroyd’s Lytton Strachey: A Critical Biography, London: Heinemann, 1967.
The “ovaries rattling” quote is from the Austrian’s driver, commenting about Magda Goebbels.
The Caudillo’s mortgage plan is actually the HUD dictate, starting in 1992, to direct 30% of Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s mortgages to borrowers who were at or below the median income in their communities—the start of “Cov-lite.” It ended at 55% in 2007; what happened next is now ancient history.
“Whole thing goes arse over tit” is from the book A Bridge Too Far, describing a glider’s landing on soft ground.
“I don’t want to have to eat a broomstick” was a boast from the Reichsmarshall that “If any enemy bomber ever attacks Germany then I will eat a broomstick.”
Tex Wheeler and his much-displayed gold watch, a gift from Prisoner Number 1 at Nuremburg, are transposed to Hawaii.
About the Author
Originally from Melbourne, Australia, Andrew Blencowe discovered at an early age what it was like to live on the edge of life. During his high school years he dropped out to become a motorcycle racer. Smitten by computers in his early twenties, he went on to become founder and CEO of an international software company with offices on five continents. It is his international perspective and a drive to challenge assumptions that influence his writing interests.
Learn more at AndrewBlencowe.com including details about Blencowe’s forthcoming The Last Bastion of Civilization: Japan 2041 scheduled for Fall 2016.
Copyright
Copyright 2014 Hamilton Bay Publishing
This novel is based on historic events; the characters and plot have been altered in part to combine fact and fiction.
978-1-927750-45-2 (paperback)
978-1-927750-46-9 (eBook edition)
Also available in German and Japanese.
Published by Hamilton Bay Publishing