Was the war necessary?" "Was it a 'good war'? Did waging it help anyone who needed help?" These were the questions Baker hoped to answer with regard to WWII when he began writing Human Smoke. He relied heavily on primary sources to drive the narrative timeline of interconnected social, political, religious, and economic events that precipitated the Second World War. Once again Baker has demonstrated his talent for breaking down a subject into its component parts for closer examination. While he provides rigorous documentation, in this case the result may well prove to be controversial. He begins in 1892 and ends the book on December 31, 1941 after America's entrance into the war. "...Human Smoke may be one of the most important books you will ever read. It could help the world to understand that there is no Just War, there is just war..." - -Mark Kurlansky, Los Angeles Times
Nicholson Baker is the author of seven novels, including the New York Times bestselling Vox and The Fermata. Also to his credit are three works of nonfiction, U and I, The Size of Thoughts, and Double Fold, which won the 2001 National Book Critics Circle Award. Mr. Baker lives in Maine.