The American Option: And, Yes, I Almost Became and American: And, Yes, I Almost Became an American - Softcover

Cheek, Philip Morgan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 188328340X ISBN 13: 9781883283407

Publisher: Brick Tower Press, 2005

Synopsis

Where the recent movie, "Chronicles of Narnia, the Lion, the Witch and the Wordrobe" begins in wartime London, this book continues the real-life adventure of an actual family caught in the middle of that conflict, threading through the events of World War II. This is a plain tale of a child evacuee escaping the London blitz - and perhaps worse, if the imminence of invasion by gloating shock troops of Nazi elite is taken into account. The author describes his journey on a Canadian-bound Atlantic convoy on a ship once commanded by his father who had been recalled to active duty. He describes the separation from his mother and life aboard ship with the German U-Boat campaign threatening the crew at every moment. The author arrives first in Boston and then travels to New Jersey to live with family friends the author's father met in New York during the First World War. The story captures the innocence of a special period in American history caught between the Great Depression and Pearl Harbor where terrible military and political events raged unabated until US entry into World War II. In a world where national boundaries increasingly count for little more than lines on a map, its child population could also suffer evacuation to safer zones if a land war affected the country internally. For nothing now is beyond imagination in terms of terrorism in the name of culture, not a country. As a child evacuee to America in a global political climate not unlike the present, the author chose an option-he would avoid the horrors which ultimately proved the lot of Europe's children had Britain not missed being overrun by a whisker. Visiting New York three weeks after "nine-eleven"; aware of the city's spontaneous official and citizen response among numbing scenes, was to return to the London blitz, to the 1940s-even the smell was there. This is a story about courage and a family's ultimate triumph. The author comes from a Welsh family whose origins are in farming, seafaring, and bus

About this title

Synopsis:

Threading through the events of one war, World War II, is a plain tale of a child evacuee escaping the London blitz and perhaps worse, if the imminence of invasion by gloating shock troops of Nazi elite is taken into account. And we see how children, a nation's heritage, are suddenly remembered by postwar writers. In that context, the story raises questions posed by history. The story's main title is chosen for two reasons. America no longer feels insecurely isolationist, just less secure. In a world where national boundaries increasingly count for little more than lines on a map, its child population could also suffer evacuation to safer zones if a land war affected the country internally. For nothing now is beyond imagination in terms of terrorism in the name of culture, not a country. The second reason: As a child evacuee to America in a global political climate not unlike the present, the author chose an option. He would avoid the horrors which ultimately proved the lot of Europe's children had Britain not missed being overrun by a whisker. Winston Churchill, hesitated over relinquishing British children to different cultures.

Visiting New York three weeks after 'nine-eleven'; aware of the city's spontaneous official and citizen response among numbing scenes, was to return to the London blitz, to the 1940s even the smell was there. This is a story about courage and a family's ultimate triumph.

About this edition

• Publisher: Brick Tower Press
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 188328340X
• ISBN 13: 9781883283407
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 238