The Winds of War - Herman Wouk

Herman Wouk’s The Winds of War is based on a mixture of fictional and non-fictional characters in which are connected to Victor “Pug” Henry. Pug is a middle aged, United States Navy Commander with a wife, Rhoda, and three grown kids, Warren, Madeline, and Byron. His dream is to command an American battleship in the United States Navy. As the story starts, Pug is being assigned to naval diplomacy in Berlin, Germany six months before the invasion of Poland (1). While working as the attaché, Pug notices the plans for Germany to invade. It comes to his concern that this would immediately cause war with the Soviet Union. If Germany is to successfully invade Poland, they must make an agreement with the Soviets to not go to war even though they are obvious enemies. He submits a report predicting the Nazi-Soviet nonaggression pact. On August 23rd, 1939, the pact was written and signed by Germany and the Soviet Union (2). Once the pact was made public, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt sees his report and is asked to be the unofficial eyes and ears in Europe. This is not necessarily the job he wants, but it gives him the upper hand in the political world. With this job, he travels to London, Rome, and Moscow. He meets very important people such as Winston Churchill, Benito Mussolini, and Joseph Stalin. In the shadow of her husband, Rhoda is spending a lot of time alone. She has been enjoying the cultural aspects of Europe and exploring many places. Through Pug, she met a man by the name of Palmer Kirby. These two start spending much quality time together, going to operas, restaurants, and other events. Their relationship begins to grow closer and closer until it reaches a romantic point. At the same time, Pug also meets a woman whom may be a romantic interest. Her name is Pamela and is the daughter of a British radio star. Pug cannot come to a conclusion as to leave Rhoda for Pamela or to stay with Rhoda and leave Pamela heartbroken and alone. Towards the end of the book, Rhoda filed for a divorce, but soon canceled the request. After long, hard work in Europe as an attaché, Pug finally gets the job of his dreams. He gained command of a battleship, the USS California. He leaves for Pearl Harbor from Moscow on regular business issues. On his way to Hawaii, he spent his time listening to the radio. The Army-Navy football game was on its way. As they get closer and closer to Pearl Harbor, the pilot gets a message saying that there is an attack in place. Arriving at the base, he looks out the window to see fire and ships burning, including his own. His ship, the USS California was a Pacific flagship. She was sunk during the attack by Japan. The USS California was later salvaged and reconstructed stronger than ever to be used in the remainder of World War Two (3). With his ship being damaged for the first portion of the war, he is given command of the USS Northampton, a lead ship in her class. As for his children, Byron was one of the more prominent sons. He graduates from Columbia University, but does not commit himself to a specific career. He accepts a job as a research assistant for a Jewish author. While working here he meets Natalie and her soon to be fiancé, Leslie Slote. Byron, Leslie, and Natalie visit Poland in Natalie’s family’s native town for a wedding. Early the next morning, they wake up to evacuate from the German invasion. Many are injured or killed by Luftwaffe. During this time of running and terror, Byron acts heroically, while Leslie is more of a wimp. Leslie proposes to Natalie, but she is unsure of whether the experiences in Poland have made her fall in love with Byron. She soon admits to him that she loves him, and he proposes marriage. They later get married in 1941, and find out that she is pregnant with their future son Louis. Byron is later trained as a submarine officer. Rhoda and Pugs other son Warren graduates from Pensacola, marries a congressman’s daughter, and is assigned to a ship of his own, the USS Enterprise. As for their daughter, she begins a job in American Radio. 1930’s Berlin was much different to life today. Berlin had a consistent tension through the air. Adolf Hitler, the leader of the Nazi party, was making his way into political power. By 1939, Hitler was at the top of his game. Jewish people were being mistreated, killed, and taken to concentration camps. Germany had been completely taken over by a dictatorship. Many followed Hitler’s ways to spare their families lives or lives of their own; others were not for his beliefs and were sent to concentration camps with the Jewish people. It was a do-or-die situation. On September 1, 1939, Hitler invaded Poland, officially starting World War II. Two days later, Britain and France, declared war on Germany due to a treaty with Poland. Hitler's armies used the Blitzkrieg tactics. This consisted of armored attacks on ground and air assaults from fighter jets (4). Poland collapsed within four weeks of the invasion. Germany's military started the new order: To eliminate Jewish people. The only way to make this invasion successful was to have the Soviet Union on Germany’s side. If Germany had invaded Poland, the Soviets would have declared war against them. In order for this not to happen, Germany and the Soviet Union signed the Nazi-Soviet nonaggression pact. Near the end of the book, the attack upon Pearl Harbor was in action. On December 7th, 1941, the Japanese Imperial Navy attacked the American Naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. This attack was a surprise to all of the United States. It led to the immediate declaration of war. A statement was made by Franklin Delano Roosevelt stating “a date which will live in infamy” (6). This book helped contribute to my understanding of World War Two due to the fact it was from a narrative perspective. Most lessons on the war are text book style with millions of vocabulary words. This book gave me an inside view of what the war was like for the everyday person and for families of service. It showed the hardships faced by civilians throughout the war. Education programs teach the material as simplistically as they can from the perspective of the government. They fail to show you real examples from people who lived it themselves and how it effects more than the government, economy, and buildings. War hurts relationships, families, and can tear people apart; things not shown in your average textbook. Pug and Rhoda, for example, were in love from the start, but once Pug was sent away for long periods of time, they started secretly seeing other people behind each other’s backs. Families of servicemen are also never in one place for very long. The Winds of War portrayed that moving can be hard on families and relationships. It used one of the touchiest subjects to prove it. Love. I believe that this is an extremely well written novel. It taught me insider things about the war that I would not normally get from reading from my textbook or from learning in a class. Before reading this book, my knowledge on the German perspective of the war was a bit shady. I knew about the war from the United States and Allies bias, but I knew very little from the Axis power perspective. This book would be on the top of my recommendation list for anyone that is interested in learning about World War Two from a different perspective. Not only did I learn, but I also enjoyed having the love and family story-lines intertwined. It kept me interested in what was going to happen next while the intense war was unfolding.