Phoney wars : New Zealand society in the Second World War / Stevan Eldred-Grigg with Hugh Eldred-Grigg.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 397-405)and index.

The eve of war -- The first phoney war : September 1939 to June 1940 -- A war far away : June 1940 to December 1941 -- War at our door? : December 1941 to December 1942 -- The second phoney war : January 1943 to September 1945 -- Victory? Napalm and nuclear bombs.

Phoney Wars: New Zealand Society in the Second World War, argues that we had no business going to war against either Germany in 1939 or Japan in 1941. Our motives for doing so were muddled and contradictory. Also we were never in danger of being bombed by any ‘enemy’ air force or invaded by any ‘enemy’ army. Eldred-Grigg questions the war as a story of ‘good’ against ‘bad.’ Everyone knows the Axis powers behaved ruthlessly, but how many are aware of the brutality of the Allied powers in bombing and starving not only Axis but even Allied peoples? New Zealand colluded in and helped carry out such brutal aggressions. Were we, in going to war, really on the side of the angels? The author’s previous book, The Great Wrong War: New Zealand Society in World War I (2010), polarised readers, with its author accused by some of betraying his country, while others congratulated him for setting the record straight. ‘Ultimately there was no compelling reason for New Zealand to involve itself in the war ... All military effort by the dominion was more or less meaningless. New Zealand could have enjoyed the blessings of its safety without going onto a gruelling and wasteful war footing.’ Nearly eighty years on, the reasons for New Zealand going to war need to be interrogated closely. Was it in the best interests of the people of New Zealand?