Audiobook12 hours
The Tango War: The Struggle for the Hearts, Minds and Riches of Latin America During World War II
Written by Mary Jo McConahay
Narrated by Elizabeth Wiley
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
()
About this audiobook
The Tango War by Mary Jo McConahay fills an important gap in World War II history. Beginning in the thirties, both sides were well aware of the need to control not just the hearts and minds but also the resources of Latin America. The fight was often dirty: residents were captured to exchange for U.S. prisoners of war and rival spy networks shadowed each other across the continent. At all times it was a Tango War, in which each side closely shadowed the other's steps.
Though the Allies triumphed, at the war's inception it looked like the Axis would win. A flow of raw materials in the Southern Hemisphere, at a high cost in lives, was key to ensuring Allied victory, as were military bases supporting the North African campaign, the Battle of the Atlantic and the invasion of Sicily, and fending off attacks on the Panama Canal. Allies secured loyalty through espionage and diplomacy-including help from Hollywood and Mickey Mouse-while Jews and innocents among ethnic groups-Japanese, Germans-paid an unconscionable price. Mexican pilots flew in the Philippines and twenty-five thousand Brazilians breached the Gothic Line in Italy. The Tango War also describes the machinations behind the greatest mass flight of criminals of the century, fascists with blood on their hands who escaped to the Americas.
Though the Allies triumphed, at the war's inception it looked like the Axis would win. A flow of raw materials in the Southern Hemisphere, at a high cost in lives, was key to ensuring Allied victory, as were military bases supporting the North African campaign, the Battle of the Atlantic and the invasion of Sicily, and fending off attacks on the Panama Canal. Allies secured loyalty through espionage and diplomacy-including help from Hollywood and Mickey Mouse-while Jews and innocents among ethnic groups-Japanese, Germans-paid an unconscionable price. Mexican pilots flew in the Philippines and twenty-five thousand Brazilians breached the Gothic Line in Italy. The Tango War also describes the machinations behind the greatest mass flight of criminals of the century, fascists with blood on their hands who escaped to the Americas.
Related to The Tango War
Related audiobooks
The Millionaires' Unit: The Aristocratic Flyboys Who Fought the Great War and Invented American Air Power Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Republic of Detours: How the New Deal Paid Broke Writers to Rediscover America Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Candy Bombers: The Untold Story of the Berlin Airlift and America's Finest Hour Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Unknown American Revolution: The Unruly Birth of Democracy and the Struggle to Create America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Harlem Hellfighters: When Pride Met Courage Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Strange and Obscure Stories of the Revolutionary War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Smyrna, September 1922: The American Mission to Rescue Victims of the 20th Century's First Genocide Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsInfamy: The Shocking Story of the Japanese American Internment in World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Bound for Canaan Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5War in the Middle East: A Reporter's Story: Black September and the Yom Kippur War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5History of the Conquest of Mexico Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wonder Girl: The Magnificent Sporting Life of Babe Didrikson Za Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Documentary History of the United States Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSealand: The True Story of the World's Most Stubborn Micronation and Its Eccentric Royal Family Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe King and Queen of Malibu: The True Story of the Battle for Paradise Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Five Years of My Life 1894-1899 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Rift in the Earth: Art, Memory, and the Fight for a Vietnam War Memorial Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing Che Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5We Are Your Soldiers: How Gamal Abdel Nasser Remade the Arab World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On the Shoulders of Giants, Vol 1: How Harlem Became the Center of the Universe Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Brazil: A Biography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Moral Imperative: 1972, Combat Rescue, and the End of America's War in Vietnam Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMexican History: An In-Depth Look at the Mexican People and Places That Shaped the Nation Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Playing Atari with Saddam Hussein: Based on a True Story Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5France on Trial: The Case of Marshal Pétain Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Lost History of Stars: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Wars & Military For You
The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of September 11, 2001 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Mysterious Case of Rudolf Diesel: Genius, Power, and Deception on the Eve of World War I Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/577 Days of February: Living and Dying in Ukraine, Told by the Nation’s Own Journalists Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Book of Five Rings Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5You're Stepping on My Cloak and Dagger Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5On Palestine Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Nazi Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Last Kingdom Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Founding Mothers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Valiant Women: The Extraordinary American Servicewomen Who Helped Win World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Diary of Anne Frank Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Kill Anything That Moves Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ghosts of Honolulu: A Japanese Spy, A Japanese American Spy Hunter, and the Untold Story of Pearl Harbor Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5When I Come Home Again: 'A page-turning literary gem' THE TIMES, BEST BOOKS OF 2020 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Making of the Atomic Bomb: 25th Anniversary Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Korean War: A History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Code Name: Lise: The True Story of the Woman Who Became WWII's Most Highly Decorated Spy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Rape of Nanking: The History and Legacy of the Notorious Massacre during the Second Sino-Japanese War Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Saved: A War Reporter's Mission to Make It Home Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Invisible Generals: Rediscovering Family Legacy, and a Quest to Honor America's First Black Generals Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Left of Bang: How the Marine Corps' Combat Hunter Program Can Save Your Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Countdown 1945: The Extraordinary Story of the Atomic Bomb and the 116 Days That Changed the World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for The Tango War
Rating: 3.625000083333333 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
12 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5To be fair, I'm not the person this book is written for, and I suspect that the general reader who is coming to the topic fresh will get a great deal out of it. That said. this is really a collection of journalistic vignettes rather than a coherent monograph, as McConahay tries to link wartime policy and action with continuing memory in the relevant countries, with varying degrees of success. For myself, the stories of the American system of forced internment of "dangerous" individuals being extended to Central and South America made my blood boil, and are arguably the best portions of the book.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5So often when learning about WWII we focus on and study the war in Europe or on the Pacific. But it is called a World War for a reason: the majority of the world was involved, not just the US, Europe, and Japan. The Tango War was one of the first looks I got into what was going on in Latin America during WWII. It is informative and interesting. Highly recommend for all history buffs.