During World War II; as the United States called on its citizens to serve in unprecedented numbers; the presence of gay Americans in the armed forces increasingly conflicted with the expanding antihomosexual policies and procedures of the military. In Coming Out Under Fire; Allan Berube examines in depth and detail these social and political confrontation--not as a story of how the military victimized homosexuals; but as a story of how a dynamic power relationship developed between gay citizens and their government; transforming them both. Drawing on GIs' wartime letters; extensive interviews with gay veterans; and declassified military documents; Berube thoughtfully constructs a startling history of the two wars gay military men and women fough--one for America and another as homosexuals within the military.Berube's book; the inspiration for the 1995 Peabody Award-winning documentary film of the same name; has become a classic since it was published in 1990; just three years prior to the controversial "don't ask; don't tell" policy; which has continued to serve as an uneasy compromise between gays and the military. With a new foreword by historians John D'Emilio and Estelle B. Freedman; this book remains a valuable contribution to the history of World War II; as well as to the ongoing debate regarding the role of gays in the U.S. military.
#266044 in Books 2005-11-21 2005-11-21Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.20 x .75 x 5.80l; 1.25 #File Name: 080785610X304 pages
Review
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful. Sugar; Slavery; and Freedom in Nineteen Century Puerto RicoBy Grace M. RiveraAs a student of history I am always interested on "how things started." As a Puerto Rican I wanted to learn more of life in Puerto Rico during the 19th century and in particular about slavery. This book certainly was beneficial in my search. I am still reading it and learning. Excellent choice!0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. GreatBy LunaLadyI am doing some geneological research and this book was a must have. Great information2 of 5 people found the following review helpful. Don't buy off the title aloneBy NessadiI recently found out that my ancestors who came from Puerto Rico were former slaves. Most of them including the ones that were not slaves all worked on sugar cane farms/ranches. I was really intrigued by this new info. wanted to learn more about it. For this reason I purchased this book. However; I was mislead by the title.Although there is a great deal of information on the sugar cane industry with the connection of slavery in PR. This book is more of a research book on the sugar revolution how it impacted slavery. Loaded with statics related research from other authors.From now on; I will generally avoid books written by academicians because their writing style is usually turgid; wordy devoid of life. This book gave some but little info. on the type of lives slaves lived back then in PR. It really didn't jump into what the life of a slave-holder or a slave back then; which is what I was looking for. I was kind of disappointed.
