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James Wakefield Burke

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James Wakefield Burke (1906–1989)[1][2] was an American journalist and writer.[3]

Biography

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Burke worked as a salesman and executive sales manager in Chicago until 1941. Then he became a lieutenant colonel in the US Army Air Force as a test pilot. After World War II Burke made a living as a journalist. From 1945 till 1954 he was stationed in Berlin as correspondent of the magazine Esquire. He reported from the Nuremberg trials and acted as a public relations adviser to General Lucius D. Clay. Subsequently he was Public Relations Officer for Generals Joseph T. McNarney, Clay and Frank L. Howley (then American commandant in Berlin).[4]

Burke published the book The Big Rape[5] ("A Historical novel of the fall of Berlin") in 1951.[6] It centers on sexual crimes committed by Soviet Soldiers in Berlin during the capture of the German capital in April and May 1945. The book has been described as both racist and misogynistic by Ingrid Schmidt-Harzbach.[7] Klaus Martens criticized a stereotypical characterization of nations and races by Burke and insinuates a connection between the author and the CIA's Psychological Warfare Department.[8][9][10][11] The German edition followed in 1952 (The Big Rape - Die große Vergewaltigung), by Amsel Publishing House.[12] A Paperback edition in German was published in 1953 under the title Frau komm!.

Burke published a "fast paced crime novel" in 1954, Three Days pass – To Kill. A German edition titled Ami – Go Home! was translated by Dietrich Bogulinski.[13]

Burke published a total of 26 works.[14] The manuscript of the novel Of a Strange Woman (1955) is stored in the University of Kentucky Special Collections.[15][16]

References

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  1. ^ Burke, James Wakefield (2019). The big rape. Popular giant. hoopla digital. United States: Eumenes Publishing. ISBN 978-1-83974-122-7.
  2. ^ Congress, The Library of. "Burke, James Wakefield - LC Linked Data Service: Authorities and Vocabularies | Library of Congress, from LC Linked Data Service: Authorities and Vocabularies (Library of Congress)". id.loc.gov. Retrieved 2022-01-04.
  3. ^ Martens, Klaus (2000). Pioneering North America: Mediators of European Culture and Literature. Königshausen & Neumann. ISBN 978-3-8260-1756-8.
  4. ^ Martens, Klaus (2000). Pioneering North America: Mediators of European Culture and Literature. Königshausen & Neumann. ISBN 978-3-8260-1756-8.
  5. ^ "James W. Burke - The Big Rape". Good Reads.
  6. ^ Hunter, Sam (1952-08-03). "A City Humiliated; THE BIG RAPE. By James Wakefield Burke. 282 pp. New York: Farrar, Straus A Young. $3". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-01-04.
  7. ^ Schmidt-Harzbach, Ingrid (1984-11-01). "Eine Woche im April. Berlin 1945. Vergewaltigung als Massenschicksal". Feministische Studien (in German). 3 (2): 51–65. doi:10.1515/fs-1984-0206. ISSN 2365-9920. S2CID 151868705.
  8. ^ Martens, Klaus (2000). Pioneering North America: Mediators of European Culture and Literature. Königshausen & Neumann. ISBN 978-3-8260-1756-8.
  9. ^ Garraio, Júlia (2013-10-01). "Hordes of Rapists: The Instrumentalization of Sexual Violence in German Cold War Anti-Communist Discourses". RCCS Annual Review. A selection from the Portuguese journal Revista Crítica de Ciências Sociais (5). doi:10.4000/rccsar.476. hdl:10316/36637. ISSN 1647-3175.
  10. ^ Meyer, Martin (2001). "American Literature in Cold War Germany". Libraries & Culture. 36 (1): 162–171. doi:10.1353/lac.2001.0015. ISSN 2166-3033. S2CID 152366794.
  11. ^ Hendershot, Cyndy (2002-12-19). Anti-Communism and Popular Culture in Mid-Century America. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-1440-6.
  12. ^ "AMSEL". www.classicrimes.homepage.t-online.de. Retrieved 2022-01-03.
  13. ^ ""Ami go home." (James Wakefield Burke) – Buch Erstausgabe kaufen – A02725aP01ZZQ". www.booklooker.de (in German). Retrieved 2022-01-03.
  14. ^ "Worldcat James W. Burke".
  15. ^ University of Southern Mississippi, Special Collections, University Libraries (2016-07-20). "Wilson (Hugh B.) Manuscript". doi:10.18785/fa.m472. Retrieved 2022-01-04. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  16. ^ "James Wakefield Burke, Of a Strange Woman manuscript". exploreuk.uky.edu. Retrieved 2022-01-04.
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