Peter
Wick’s book, “The Time Travelers Guide to the 20th Century,” will be
published in the Spring of 2018, by Azzurri Publishing. Peter is previewing
small samples of the book before its publication. This one begins as World
War 2 comes to an end:
Before
we leave the war behind, we wanted to give you a list of Forgotten Battles of World War 2:
-C-Day:
A few months before the more
famous “D-Day,” several thousand U.S. troops invaded a popular pub on the south
coast of England. Unfortunately, the pub was too small to hold them, and
collapsed. The Americans declared victory and celebrated with the locals by ruthlessly
drinking all of the pub’s left over alcohol.
-The Invasion of Italy:
Many people do not realize that The
Allies invaded Italy long before they invaded France. It is an understandable
oversight, though, since the citizens of Italy had already turned against their despotic ruler, Mussolini, and thrown him in jail. The entire country was now in the mood for some
Allied love.
-King Kong versus Godzilla
One of the most epic battles of all
time pitted America’s beast ape against Japan’s terrifying new monster. Don’t
believe the claims that Godzilla came into existence only after the Atomic bomb
was dropped. Godzilla was merely waiting in secret for his special moment. This
epic battle happened on a remote Pacific island in early 1944. It was reported
to be a stalemate. Those who witnessed it reported that it was TOTALLY F---ing
AWESOME!
Photo credit,
public domain: By Toho/Universal Int. (Trailer for the film) [Public domain],
via Wikimedia Commons
One of the all-time epic battles of World War 2
So…now it was the LATE 1940’s. The United
States had unleashed a new era of fear and peril with their use of the Atomic
bomb.
The war was over, though.
What to do next?
Start the next one, of course.
The next war was called “The Cold War,” and
lasted for more than 40 years.
The Cold War was less a war and more a tango between dance partners who hated each other.
Russia, in helping defeat Germany at the end of
World War 2, annexed just about all Eastern Europe, and called
themselves The Soviet Union.
The Cold war might be a more fun time for
travelers to visit. Why? Most of the serious killing was over. Now it was SPY
TIME.
Americans and Soviets began a
several-decades-long spy vs. counter spy game, with big name celebrities like
James Bond taking part.
Okay, Bond wasn’t a real person, but you see
how things were evolving. Instead of living in fox holes and trenches, suffering
from disease, and enduring unspeakably harsh conditions, the combatants played
cards in casinos, slept with beautiful double-agents, and sabotaged each
other’s diabolical plans. What’s not to love?
But we are getting a little bit ahead of
ourselves. The Cold War was barely on yet in the late 1940’s.
First Russia had to catch up with the U.S. and
build their own Atomic bomb. Once that happened, in 1949, the real fun started.
Stay
tuned for one or two more preview samples before the book is published next
Spring…
-Peter
Wick
November
14, 2017
