Sunday, November 30, 2008

Sorrows of Empire Datapoint

In addition to an eye for telling detail, Walter LaFeber has a nice taste for irony:
A near-perfect metphor [for United States policy in China during World War II] occurred in early 1945 when FDR sent the vain, pompous General Patrick Hurley to China on an important mission. Hurley insisted on shipping over a huge Cadillac for his own use. The car ran three weeks, broke down, and Hurley could not find the necessary parts in China.
--Walter LaFeber, The Clash 233 (1997)

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