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One of WW2 Reads "Top 20 Must-Read WWII Books of 2018"The gripping and little known story of the fight for the allegiance of Latin America during World War IIThe Tango War by Mary Jo McConahay fills an important gap in WWII 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. A true, shocking account that reads like a thriller, The Tango War shows in a new way how WWII was truly a global war.
About the Author
Born in Chicago, Mary Jo McConahay is an award-winning reporter who covered the wars in Central America and economics in the Middle East. She has traveled in seventy countries and has been fascinated by the history of World War II since childhood, when she listened to the stories of her father, a veteran U.S. Navy officer. A graduate of the University of California in Berkeley, she covers Latin America as an independent journalist. Coming Sept. 18: The Tango War, The Struggle for the Hearts, Minds and Riches of Latin America during World War II
Her previous books include Maya Roads, One Woman's Journey Among the People of the Rainforest and Ricochet, Two Women War Reporters and a Friendship Under Fire. She lives in San Francisco.
Maya Roads earned the Grand Award, Society of American Travel Writers; International Book Awards Winner in three categories -- Autobiography/Memoir, Best New Nonfiction, Best Travel Essay Book; the Independent Publishers' Award Gold -- Best Travel Essay Book; National Geographic Traveler Book of the Month; Northern California Book Awards, Best Creative Nonfiction. For Maya Roads and other travel writing, McConahay was named Lowell Thomas Travel Journalist of the Year, the equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize in the genre.
Ricochet earned a Global Ebook Award for Autobiography/Memoir
