Those items marked with an asterisk will be especially useful for students.
Bibliography
Bernstein, Baron, “The Atomic Bombings Reconsidered,”
Foreign Affairs
41:1 (1995) A general discussion of the issues which surrounded the decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan in World War II.
Chesterman, Simon,
Just War or Just Peace?: Humanitarian Intervention and International Law,
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001) A scholarly work that reviews the history of military interventions that have been justified by international law. Begins with an extensive discussion of the development of just war concepts in international law. Includes a discussion of the U.N. role in Korea.
*Freedman, Lawrence, ed.,
War
, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994) A collection of readings by a variety of authors (even poets) on the subject of war. It includes a section on the ethics of war. All the excerpts are short and organized to make choices easily which makes them useful for high school curricula.
Holmes, Robert L.,
On War and Morality
, (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1989) A discussion of the ethical issues in war. Includes a thorough treatment of just war theory.
Karnow, Stanley,
Vietnam: A History,
(New York: Viking Press, 1983) A comprehensive history of the Vietnam War. Companion to the PBS series.
*Kaufman, Burton I.,
The Korean Conflict,
(Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999) A short history of the Korean War. Organized to make quick reference easy.
*Keegan, John,
The Second World War
, (New York: Penguin Books, 1990) An engaging and readable account of World War II. Focuses on the basic strategic dilemmas and decisions of the main adversaries. Includes an excellent section on strategic bombing which should be used with this unit.
Lee, Steven Hugh,
The Korean War,
(Harlow, UK: Pearson Education, 2001) Very similar to the Kaufman book above. Written in a more scholarly style.
Russett, Bruce, Harvey Starr and David Kinsella,
World Politics: The Menu for Choice
, (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2000) A college level text on international relations. Includes a useful section on ethics and war that covers the essential points of just war theory.
*Starr, Jerold M., ed.,
The Lessons of the Vietnam War,
(Pittsburgh, PA: Center for Social Studies Education, 1999) An excellent high school text on the Vietnam War. Includes a chapter on My Lai which is essential for this unit.
*Walzer, Michael,
Just and Unjust Wars: A Moral Argument with Historical Illustrations
, (New York: Basic Books, 1977) The book upon which the basic thrust of this unit is based. Written in a straightforward and readable style. Selections from the book are appropriate for high school reading assignments.
*Wells, Donald A., ed.,
The Encyclopedia of War and Ethics,
(Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1996) A very useful reference book for both teachers and students. There are entries on every term, concept and event discussed in this unit.
Internet Sites
*CNN,
The Cold War Educator Guide,
6/25/02, http://learning.turner.com/cnn/coldwar/cw_start.html The educators companion to the CNN series on the cold war. Includes images, maps, timelines, graphs and tables. The section on the Korean War is useful for this unit.
Mosely, Alex, “Just War Theory,”
The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy,
2001, 4/11/02, http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/j/justwar.htm An easily accessible brief description of the basics of just war theory.
*PBS/WGBH,
Vietnam On Line,
1997, 6/25/02, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/vietnam/index.html The companion web site to the PBS series
.
Includes the entire transcript of each episode which is useful for developing questions and assignments.
Video
*PBS/WGBH,
Vietnam: A Television History,
13 hours in 13 episodes,
1983 Still the best film account of the war. The episode entitled “America Takes Charge: 1965-1967” should be used with this unit.
*Zenger Media,
Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Was Truman’s Decision to Use the Bomb Justified?,
20 minutes, 1988 A short video that gives the arguments on both sides of the issue and allows students to decide. Should be used with the portion of the unit on strategic bombing.
*CNN,
Cold War: The Making of History,
24 episodes, approx. 20 hours, 1998 Comprehensive video series on the Cold War. The episode on Korea is useful for this unit. Includes an episode on Vietnam.