Podcast appearances and mentions of mary louise roberts

The United States played a key role in the Allied effort to liberate Western Europe from the Nazis, but not everyone sees it in the same light. As France marks the 80th anniversary of D-Day, an American veteran reflects on the differing ways the US and France remember the war. Meanwhile, historians recall the large number of civilians killed during the Allied invasion and explain why US soldiers were not always welcomed as heroes. As French President Emmanuel Macron welcomes world leaders, the real stars of the commemorations are the surviving veterans themselves – the men who landed on the Normandy beaches on 6 June 1944 and started liberating France from Nazi occupation. The youngest of the remaining D-Day veterans are now in their late 90s. Alan Shapiro, 99, was too young to take part in the landings, but joined the European Allied forces in the autumn of 1944 and flew transport carriers in the US air corps. He's struck by the love and recognition he's received in France, where war was a lived experience rather than a distant newsreel. He came to France through the association Retour des veterans en Normandie (Veterans Back to Normandy), based in the village of Créances. Its founder, Valerie Gautier, talks about the lasting need to show gratitude for D-Day and WWII veterans. (Listen @4'20)The story of D-Day and its aftermath is told differently depending on which side of the Atlantic you're on. American historian Mary Louise Roberts discusses how France has been erased from the US perspective on the landings. Meanwhile French historian Emmanuel Thiébot, who directs a museum in Normandy dedicated to civilians during WWII, explains why Allied soldiers didn't always get a hero's welcome in towns that had been bombed in preparation for the invasion. And local survivor Henri, whose fiancée and uncle were killed by Allied bombs, recalls the mixed feelings he had about the troops sent to liberate France. (Listen @15'55)Episode mixed by Cecile Pompéani. Spotlight on France is a podcast from Radio France International. Find us on rfienglish.com, Apple podcasts (link here), Spotify (link here) or your favourite podcast app (pod.link/1573769878).

Author Mary Louise Roberts discusses her new book Sheer Misery: Soldiers in Battle in WWII. https://www.amazon.com/Sheer-Misery-Soldiers-Battle-WWII/dp/022675314X/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=sheer+misery&qid=1629485116&sr=8-1 maryroberts@wisc.edu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Author Mary Louise Roberts discusses her new book Sheer Misery: Soldiers in Battle in WWII. https://www.amazon.com/Sheer-Misery-Soldiers-Battle-WWII/dp/022675314X/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=sheer+misery&qid=1629485116&sr=8-1 maryroberts@wisc.edu

Marching across occupied France in 1944, American GI Leroy Stewart had neither death nor glory on his mind: he was worried about his underwear. "I ran into a new problem when we walked," Stewart wrote, "the shorts and I didn't get along. They would crawl up on me all the time." Crawling underwear may have been a small price to pay for the liberation of millions of people, but in the utter wretchedness of the moment, it was quite natural for soldiers like Stewart to lose sight of that end.  In Sheer Misery: Soldiers in Battle in WWII (U Chicago Press, 2021), Mary Louise Roberts focuses on the corporeal experiences of the soldiers who fought in Belgium, France, and Italy during the last two years of the Second World War. In the horrendously unhygienic and often lethal conditions of the front line, their bodies broke down, stubbornly declaring their needs for warmth, rest, and good nutrition. Turning away from the accounts of high-level military strategy that dominate many WWII histories, Roberts instead relies on diaries and letters to bring to life visceral sense memories like the moans of the "screaming meemies," the acrid smell of cordite, and the shockingly mundane sight of rotting corpses. Told in inimitable style by one of our most distinctive historians of the Second World War, Sheer Misery, published by the University of Chicago Press, gives readers both an unprecedented look at the ground-level world of the common soldier and a deeply felt rendering of the experience of being a body in war. Douglas Bell is a historian who focuses on American military history, American foreign policy, German history, and European Studies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/german-studies

Marching across occupied France in 1944, American GI Leroy Stewart had neither death nor glory on his mind: he was worried about his underwear. "I ran into a new problem when we walked," Stewart wrote, "the shorts and I didn't get along. They would crawl up on me all the time." Crawling underwear may have been a small price to pay for the liberation of millions of people, but in the utter wretchedness of the moment, it was quite natural for soldiers like Stewart to lose sight of that end.  In Sheer Misery: Soldiers in Battle in WWII (U Chicago Press, 2021), Mary Louise Roberts focuses on the corporeal experiences of the soldiers who fought in Belgium, France, and Italy during the last two years of the Second World War. In the horrendously unhygienic and often lethal conditions of the front line, their bodies broke down, stubbornly declaring their needs for warmth, rest, and good nutrition. Turning away from the accounts of high-level military strategy that dominate many WWII histories, Roberts instead relies on diaries and letters to bring to life visceral sense memories like the moans of the "screaming meemies," the acrid smell of cordite, and the shockingly mundane sight of rotting corpses. Told in inimitable style by one of our most distinctive historians of the Second World War, Sheer Misery, published by the University of Chicago Press, gives readers both an unprecedented look at the ground-level world of the common soldier and a deeply felt rendering of the experience of being a body in war. Douglas Bell is a historian who focuses on American military history, American foreign policy, German history, and European Studies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/military-history

Marching across occupied France in 1944, American GI Leroy Stewart had neither death nor glory on his mind: he was worried about his underwear. "I ran into a new problem when we walked," Stewart wrote, "the shorts and I didn't get along. They would crawl up on me all the time." Crawling underwear may have been a small price to pay for the liberation of millions of people, but in the utter wretchedness of the moment, it was quite natural for soldiers like Stewart to lose sight of that end.  In Sheer Misery: Soldiers in Battle in WWII (U Chicago Press, 2021), Mary Louise Roberts focuses on the corporeal experiences of the soldiers who fought in Belgium, France, and Italy during the last two years of the Second World War. In the horrendously unhygienic and often lethal conditions of the front line, their bodies broke down, stubbornly declaring their needs for warmth, rest, and good nutrition. Turning away from the accounts of high-level military strategy that dominate many WWII histories, Roberts instead relies on diaries and letters to bring to life visceral sense memories like the moans of the "screaming meemies," the acrid smell of cordite, and the shockingly mundane sight of rotting corpses. Told in inimitable style by one of our most distinctive historians of the Second World War, Sheer Misery, published by the University of Chicago Press, gives readers both an unprecedented look at the ground-level world of the common soldier and a deeply felt rendering of the experience of being a body in war. Douglas Bell is a historian who focuses on American military history, American foreign policy, German history, and European Studies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/european-studies

Marching across occupied France in 1944, American GI Leroy Stewart had neither death nor glory on his mind: he was worried about his underwear. "I ran into a new problem when we walked," Stewart wrote, "the shorts and I didn't get along. They would crawl up on me all the time." Crawling underwear may have been a small price to pay for the liberation of millions of people, but in the utter wretchedness of the moment, it was quite natural for soldiers like Stewart to lose sight of that end.  In Sheer Misery: Soldiers in Battle in WWII (U Chicago Press, 2021), Mary Louise Roberts focuses on the corporeal experiences of the soldiers who fought in Belgium, France, and Italy during the last two years of the Second World War. In the horrendously unhygienic and often lethal conditions of the front line, their bodies broke down, stubbornly declaring their needs for warmth, rest, and good nutrition. Turning away from the accounts of high-level military strategy that dominate many WWII histories, Roberts instead relies on diaries and letters to bring to life visceral sense memories like the moans of the "screaming meemies," the acrid smell of cordite, and the shockingly mundane sight of rotting corpses. Told in inimitable style by one of our most distinctive historians of the Second World War, Sheer Misery, published by the University of Chicago Press, gives readers both an unprecedented look at the ground-level world of the common soldier and a deeply felt rendering of the experience of being a body in war. Douglas Bell is a historian who focuses on American military history, American foreign policy, German history, and European Studies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/british-studies

Marching across occupied France in 1944, American GI Leroy Stewart had neither death nor glory on his mind: he was worried about his underwear. "I ran into a new problem when we walked," Stewart wrote, "the shorts and I didn't get along. They would crawl up on me all the time." Crawling underwear may have been a small price to pay for the liberation of millions of people, but in the utter wretchedness of the moment, it was quite natural for soldiers like Stewart to lose sight of that end.  In Sheer Misery: Soldiers in Battle in WWII (U Chicago Press, 2021), Mary Louise Roberts focuses on the corporeal experiences of the soldiers who fought in Belgium, France, and Italy during the last two years of the Second World War. In the horrendously unhygienic and often lethal conditions of the front line, their bodies broke down, stubbornly declaring their needs for warmth, rest, and good nutrition. Turning away from the accounts of high-level military strategy that dominate many WWII histories, Roberts instead relies on diaries and letters to bring to life visceral sense memories like the moans of the "screaming meemies," the acrid smell of cordite, and the shockingly mundane sight of rotting corpses. Told in inimitable style by one of our most distinctive historians of the Second World War, Sheer Misery, published by the University of Chicago Press, gives readers both an unprecedented look at the ground-level world of the common soldier and a deeply felt rendering of the experience of being a body in war. Douglas Bell is a historian who focuses on American military history, American foreign policy, German history, and European Studies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

Marching across occupied France in 1944, American GI Leroy Stewart had neither death nor glory on his mind: he was worried about his underwear. "I ran into a new problem when we walked," Stewart wrote, "the shorts and I didn't get along. They would crawl up on me all the time." Crawling underwear may have been a small price to pay for the liberation of millions of people, but in the utter wretchedness of the moment, it was quite natural for soldiers like Stewart to lose sight of that end.  In Sheer Misery: Soldiers in Battle in WWII (U Chicago Press, 2021), Mary Louise Roberts focuses on the corporeal experiences of the soldiers who fought in Belgium, France, and Italy during the last two years of the Second World War. In the horrendously unhygienic and often lethal conditions of the front line, their bodies broke down, stubbornly declaring their needs for warmth, rest, and good nutrition. Turning away from the accounts of high-level military strategy that dominate many WWII histories, Roberts instead relies on diaries and letters to bring to life visceral sense memories like the moans of the "screaming meemies," the acrid smell of cordite, and the shockingly mundane sight of rotting corpses. Told in inimitable style by one of our most distinctive historians of the Second World War, Sheer Misery, published by the University of Chicago Press, gives readers both an unprecedented look at the ground-level world of the common soldier and a deeply felt rendering of the experience of being a body in war. Douglas Bell is a historian who focuses on American military history, American foreign policy, German history, and European Studies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

Marching across occupied France in 1944, American GI Leroy Stewart had neither death nor glory on his mind: he was worried about his underwear. "I ran into a new problem when we walked," Stewart wrote, "the shorts and I didn't get along. They would crawl up on me all the time." Crawling underwear may have been a small price to pay for the liberation of millions of people, but in the utter wretchedness of the moment, it was quite natural for soldiers like Stewart to lose sight of that end.  In Sheer Misery: Soldiers in Battle in WWII (U Chicago Press, 2021), Mary Louise Roberts focuses on the corporeal experiences of the soldiers who fought in Belgium, France, and Italy during the last two years of the Second World War. In the horrendously unhygienic and often lethal conditions of the front line, their bodies broke down, stubbornly declaring their needs for warmth, rest, and good nutrition. Turning away from the accounts of high-level military strategy that dominate many WWII histories, Roberts instead relies on diaries and letters to bring to life visceral sense memories like the moans of the "screaming meemies," the acrid smell of cordite, and the shockingly mundane sight of rotting corpses. Told in inimitable style by one of our most distinctive historians of the Second World War, Sheer Misery, published by the University of Chicago Press, gives readers both an unprecedented look at the ground-level world of the common soldier and a deeply felt rendering of the experience of being a body in war. Douglas Bell is a historian who focuses on American military history, American foreign policy, German history, and European Studies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

This week we travel to 1950s Italy with The Talented Mr. Ripley! Join us for a discussion of Italian jazz, the male gaze, passports, gay men in 1950s Italy, Madonna festivals, and more! Sources: Film Background: IMDB, Talented Mr Ripley: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0134119/trivia?ref_=tt_trv_trv Interview with Matt Damon, Urban Cinephile, available at https://www.urbancinefile.com.au/home/view.asp?a=3320&s=Interviews Roger Ebert's Revew of The Talented Mr Ripley: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-talented-mr-ripley-1999 Philadelphia Inquirer on Goop: https://www.inquirer.com/health/goop-gwyneth-paltrow-pseudoscience-netflix-jade-egg-20200204.html Mardonna Festivals: Marialus Cultus, available at http://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_p-vi_exh_19740202_marialis-cultus.html University of Dayton, List of Mary Shrines in Italy: https://udayton.edu/imri/mary/s/shrines-in-italy.php Marianism in Campania: http://www.naplesldm.com/sevenmad.php Festival of the Madonna di Pietraquaria Official Website: http://www.madonnadipietraquaria.org/festa-della-madonna/ Augusto Ferraiulo, "Boston's North End: Negotiating Identity in an Italian-American Neighborhood," Western Folklore 65, 3 (2006) Nancy Frey Breuner, "The Cult of the Virgin Mary in Southern Italy and Spain," Ethos 20, 1 (1992) Robert A. Ventresca, "The Virgin and the Bear: Religion, Society, and the Cold War in Italy," Journal of Social History 37, 2 (2003) Passports: Smithsonian Magazine, "How the Passport Became an Improbable Symbol of American Identity," available at https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/how-passport-became-improbable-symbol-american-identity-180962064/ Jessica Puckett, "How US Passports Evolved from Status Symbol to Essential Travel Document," Conde Nast Traveler, available at https://www.cntraveler.com/story/how-the-us-passport-evolved-from-status-symbol-to-essential-travel-document Christine Quinan, "Gender (in)securities: Surveillance and Transgender Bodies in a Post-9/11 Age of Neoliberalism," in Security/Mobility: Politics of Movement, ed Mattias Leese and Step Wittendorp. Manchester University Press Images of 1950s American passports: https://www.passport-collector.com/the-passport-of-a-young-african-american-issued-in-germany/ Daniel A. Farber, "National Security, the Right to Travel, and the Court," Supreme Court Review (1981) Homosexuality in Italy: Adamczyk, Amy. "The Relatively Liberal Views of People from Catholic-Majority Countries: An Examination of Spain, Italy, and Brazil." In Cross-National Public Opinion about Homosexuality: Examining Attitudes across the Globe, 127-48. Oakland, California: University of California Press, 2017. Accessed September 16, 2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt1jd947w.9. Aldrich, Robert. "Homosexuality and the City: An Historical Overview." Urban Studies 41, no. 9 (2004): 1719-737. Accessed September 17, 2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43201476. Friedlander, Ari. "Introduction: Desiring History and Historicizing Desire." Journal for Early Modern Cultural Studies 16, no. 2 (2016): 1-20. Accessed September 17, 2020. doi:10.2307/jearlmodcultstud.16.2.1. Mosse, George L., and Mary Louise Roberts. "Fascism and Sexuality." In Nationalism and Sexuality: Middle-Class Morality and Sexual Norms in Modern Europe, 158-83. Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, 2020. Accessed September 17, 2020. doi:10.2307/j.ctv15pjz4h.13. Ponzanesi, Sandra. "Queering European Sexualities Through Italy’s Fascist Past: Colonialism, Homosexuality, and Masculinities." In What's Queer about Europe?: Productive Encounters and Re-enchanting Paradigms, edited by Rosello Mireille and Dasgupta Sudeep, 81-90. New York: Fordham University Press, 2014. Accessed September 17, 2020. doi:10.2307/j.ctt13x0783.8. Ross, Charlotte, Heim, Julia, and Smythe, SA. "Queer Italian Studies: Critical Reflections from the Field." Italian Studies: Cultural Studies 74, no. 4 (2019): 397-412. Dupont, Wannes. "The Two-Faced Fifties: Homosexuality and Penal Policy in the International Forensic Community, 1945–1965." Journal of the History of Sexuality 28, no. 3 (2019): 357-395. muse.jhu.edu/article/734235. Tu Vuo Fa L'Americano https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/24/who-really-killed-pier-paolo-pasolini-venice-film-festival-biennale-abel-ferrara https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tu_Vu%C3%B2_F%C3%A0_L%27Americano SCUDERI, ANTONIO. "Okay Napulitan!: Social Change and Cultural Identity in the Songs of Renato Carosone." Italica 87, no. 4 (2010): 619-36. Accessed September 17, 2020. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23070816. Renato Carosone film performance https://youtu.be/BqlJwMFtMCs w/translated lyrics https://youtu.be/yL_amiWnqFQ (and some typos) WYNN, NEIL A. "“Why I Sing the Blues”: AFRICAN AMERICAN CULTURE IN THE TRANSATLANTIC WORLD." In Cross the Water Blues: African American Music in Europe, edited by Wynn Neil A., by Bakriges Christopher G., et al, 3-22. JACKSON: University Press of Mississippi, 2007. Accessed September 17, 2020. doi:10.2307/j.ctt2tvbm7.4. Adinolfi, Francesco. "Lounge Italia." In Mondo Exotica: Sounds, Visions, Obsessions of the Cocktail Generation, edited by Pinkus Karen and Vivrette Jason, 226-34. Durham; London: Duke University Press, 2008. Accessed September 17, 2020. doi:10.2307/j.ctv11smnxp.19. Another translation of the lyrics: https://genius.com/Genius-english-translations-renato-carosone-tu-vuo-fa-lamericano-english-translation-lyrics

Tracking soldiers from the villages and towns of Northern France, to the “Silver Foxhole” of Paris, to tribunals that convicted a disproportionate number of African-American soldiers of rape, Mary Louise Roberts‘ latest book reveals a side of the Liberation of 1944-45 that is typically obscured in histories of the D-Day landings and the months that followed. What Soldiers Do: Sex and the American GI in World War II France (University of Chicago Press, 2013) draws on a wealth of material from French and American archives to show us that the war was an experience saturated with sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and touch. Battles were critical, of course, but so too was sex. The American GI in war-torn France was a soldier, a tourist, a liberator, and also a destroyer. Military propaganda represented the Normandy campaign as a soldier’s opportunity for sexual adventure, framing the invasion and occupation of France in terms of the rescue of damsels in distress by heroic tough guys from a manly nation. Convinced of the hyper-sexuality of French women and culture, many American soldiers courted, paid for sex with, and even assaulted women they met in French homes, streets, hotels, and brothels. This is a book about what American GIs thought about France; what they did while they were “over there”; how French women and men received and responded to the “advances” of American troops; and the lasting impact of this complex set of encounters on individual lives, communities, and politics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tracking soldiers from the villages and towns of Northern France, to the “Silver Foxhole” of Paris, to tribunals that convicted a disproportionate number of African-American soldiers of rape, Mary Louise Roberts‘ latest book reveals a side of the Liberation of 1944-45 that is typically obscured in histories of the D-Day landings and the months that followed. What Soldiers Do: Sex and the American GI in World War II France (University of Chicago Press, 2013) draws on a wealth of material from French and American archives to show us that the war was an experience saturated with sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and touch. Battles were critical, of course, but so too was sex. The American GI in war-torn France was a soldier, a tourist, a liberator, and also a destroyer. Military propaganda represented the Normandy campaign as a soldier’s opportunity for sexual adventure, framing the invasion and occupation of France in terms of the rescue of damsels in distress by heroic tough guys from a manly nation. Convinced of the hyper-sexuality of French women and culture, many American soldiers courted, paid for sex with, and even assaulted women they met in French homes, streets, hotels, and brothels. This is a book about what American GIs thought about France; what they did while they were “over there”; how French women and men received and responded to the “advances” of American troops; and the lasting impact of this complex set of encounters on individual lives, communities, and politics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tracking soldiers from the villages and towns of Northern France, to the “Silver Foxhole” of Paris, to tribunals that convicted a disproportionate number of African-American soldiers of rape, Mary Louise Roberts‘ latest book reveals a side of the Liberation of 1944-45 that is typically obscured in histories of the D-Day landings and the months that followed. What Soldiers Do: Sex and the American GI in World War II France (University of Chicago Press, 2013) draws on a wealth of material from French and American archives to show us that the war was an experience saturated with sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and touch. Battles were critical, of course, but so too was sex. The American GI in war-torn France was a soldier, a tourist, a liberator, and also a destroyer. Military propaganda represented the Normandy campaign as a soldier’s opportunity for sexual adventure, framing the invasion and occupation of France in terms of the rescue of damsels in distress by heroic tough guys from a manly nation. Convinced of the hyper-sexuality of French women and culture, many American soldiers courted, paid for sex with, and even assaulted women they met in French homes, streets, hotels, and brothels. This is a book about what American GIs thought about France; what they did while they were “over there”; how French women and men received and responded to the “advances” of American troops; and the lasting impact of this complex set of encounters on individual lives, communities, and politics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tracking soldiers from the villages and towns of Northern France, to the “Silver Foxhole” of Paris, to tribunals that convicted a disproportionate number of African-American soldiers of rape, Mary Louise Roberts‘ latest book reveals a side of the Liberation of 1944-45 that is typically obscured in histories of the D-Day landings and the months that followed. What Soldiers Do: Sex and the American GI in World War II France (University of Chicago Press, 2013) draws on a wealth of material from French and American archives to show us that the war was an experience saturated with sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and touch. Battles were critical, of course, but so too was sex. The American GI in war-torn France was a soldier, a tourist, a liberator, and also a destroyer. Military propaganda represented the Normandy campaign as a soldier’s opportunity for sexual adventure, framing the invasion and occupation of France in terms of the rescue of damsels in distress by heroic tough guys from a manly nation. Convinced of the hyper-sexuality of French women and culture, many American soldiers courted, paid for sex with, and even assaulted women they met in French homes, streets, hotels, and brothels. This is a book about what American GIs thought about France; what they did while they were “over there”; how French women and men received and responded to the “advances” of American troops; and the lasting impact of this complex set of encounters on individual lives, communities, and politics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tracking soldiers from the villages and towns of Northern France, to the “Silver Foxhole” of Paris, to tribunals that convicted a disproportionate number of African-American soldiers of rape, Mary Louise Roberts‘ latest book reveals a side of the Liberation of 1944-45 that is typically obscured in histories of the D-Day landings and the months that followed. What Soldiers Do: Sex and the American GI in World War II France (University of Chicago Press, 2013) draws on a wealth of material from French and American archives to show us that the war was an experience saturated with sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and touch. Battles were critical, of course, but so too was sex. The American GI in war-torn France was a soldier, a tourist, a liberator, and also a destroyer. Military propaganda represented the Normandy campaign as a soldier’s opportunity for sexual adventure, framing the invasion and occupation of France in terms of the rescue of damsels in distress by heroic tough guys from a manly nation. Convinced of the hyper-sexuality of French women and culture, many American soldiers courted, paid for sex with, and even assaulted women they met in French homes, streets, hotels, and brothels. This is a book about what American GIs thought about France; what they did while they were “over there”; how French women and men received and responded to the “advances” of American troops; and the lasting impact of this complex set of encounters on individual lives, communities, and politics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tracking soldiers from the villages and towns of Northern France, to the “Silver Foxhole” of Paris, to tribunals that convicted a disproportionate number of African-American soldiers of rape, Mary Louise Roberts‘ latest book reveals a side of the Liberation of 1944-45 that is typically obscured in histories of the D-Day landings and the months that followed. What Soldiers Do: Sex and the American GI in World War II France (University of Chicago Press, 2013) draws on a wealth of material from French and American archives to show us that the war was an experience saturated with sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and touch. Battles were critical, of course, but so too was sex. The American GI in war-torn France was a soldier, a tourist, a liberator, and also a destroyer. Military propaganda represented the Normandy campaign as a soldier’s opportunity for sexual adventure, framing the invasion and occupation of France in terms of the rescue of damsels in distress by heroic tough guys from a manly nation. Convinced of the hyper-sexuality of French women and culture, many American soldiers courted, paid for sex with, and even assaulted women they met in French homes, streets, hotels, and brothels. This is a book about what American GIs thought about France; what they did while they were “over there”; how French women and men received and responded to the “advances” of American troops; and the lasting impact of this complex set of encounters on individual lives, communities, and politics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mary Louise Roberts gives a talk on the ways that teachers can improve their classroom discussions. She describes how she operates in class and discusses many of the goals teachers should have. (April 22, 1999)