Herbert Hoover pens new book on secret history of WWII. Yes, Hoover!

    I have a new book on my book list.
    The book is Freedom Betrayed by Herbert Hoover. That's right, Herbert Hoover. It's subtitle says it all: "Herbert Hoover's Secret History of the Second World War and Its Aftermath."
    Hoover apparently began writing the book prior to World War II and continued writing through the 1950s. The book was almost ready for publication at the time of Hoover's death in 1964. Instead of publishing the book his heirs decided to put the book on ice for almost 50 years.
    I'm not sure what motivated the heirs, but perhaps it is because the book doesn't toe the official line of America as a White Knight out to do good in the world. Hoover apparently believed we could have easily stayed out of WWII, and simply allowed Hitler and Stalin to tear each other to shreds. He believed we intentionally goaded Japan into attacking, which we did. Hoover felt even more strongly about America's decision to become an imperial power after WWII, a decision which has depleted our treasury and ended or destroyed the lives of tens of thousands of our nation's young men.
    Old-timers blame Hoover for the Great Depression, and they are right, but not for the reasons they think.
    Hoover was extremely active as a humanitarian all of his life. Prior to the U.S. entry into World War I he was a leader in European relief efforts. When the United States entered the war Woodrow Wilson appointed him head of the U.S. Food Administration. It was in that post that Hoover championed a price guarantee of $1 per bushel for wheat, which set into action an unprecidented agricultural boom that would only bust in the mid-1920s. It took several more years for the crisis to hit the financial sector, but when it did the Great Depression had begun.
    Also unknown by many is that Hoover attempted to increase government spending to soften the economic downturn. His efforts were thwarted by Democrats, who wanted economic conditions to remain as bad as possible in order to help them win the White House.
    In any event, Hoover's book is a must-read for anyone wanting to know the truth about what really happened before, during and after World War II. Those who only want the official self-serving version of history can likely give this book a pass.