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Tokyo Rose: AND An American Patriot: A Dual Biography (Scarecrow Professional Intelligence Education): 7
Author(s): Frederick P. Close (Author)
- Publisher: Scarecrow Press (UK)
- Publication Date: 16 Feb. 2010
- Language: English
- Print length: 544 pages
- ISBN-10: 081086777X
- ISBN-13: 9780810867772
Book Description
This book assembles for the first time a collection of images from American pre-war popular culture that provided impetus for the legend. It analyzes the wartime situation of servicemen, which caused their imaginations to create the mythical femme fatale even though no Japanese announcer ever used the name Tokyo Rose. Using interviews conducted over decades, this dual biography also explores Toguris character and decisions by placing her story and conviction for treason in the context of U.S. and Japanese racial views, Imperial Japan, and Cold War politics. New research findings prompt a different perspective on her sensational trial, the most expensive in U.S. history up to that time. Misguided strategy by Toguris defense attorney and her deceptive testimony about a key event led to the jurys verdict as surely as the perjury suborned by prosecutors.
Editorial Reviews
Review
Dubbed a dual biography, this personal history parallels the legend of the infamous―and largely fictitious―Tokyo Rose with the true story of American patriot Iva Toguri. Tried and wrongly convicted of treason, Toguri, an unfortunate victim of time and circumstances, deserves another day in the court of public opinion. Close gives his subject her due by interweaving the straightforward facts of her life with the fanciful mythology of Tokyo Rose. World War II buffs will appreciate this attempt to set the record straight.
Close sets out to tell a ”dual biography” that compares and combines the ”lives” of Iva Toguri, a Japanese American who found herself trapped in Japan after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and eventually became a broadcaster for the Zero Hour program produced by Radio Tokyo, and Tokyo Rose, the fictive temptress whose radio propaganda aimed to undermine US soldiers” morale in the Pacific. Presenting a thorough accounting of both Toguri and Tokyo Rose from their respective ”births” on, Close explores how a variety of forces―including racial hostilities exacerbated by the war, curiosity about the ”true” identity of Tokyo Rose, increasing Cold War tensions, and even Toguri”s ambition and nalveté―all helped to forever connect Toguri, no matter how unfairly, to the treasonous (though fictional) broadcaster. Close covers his subject in exacting…detail….Though Tokyo Rose has received a good deal of scholarly attention, Close”s very accessible book provides a meticulous history that presents intriguing insights and raises new questions through its novel approach. Summing Up: Recommended.
