Skip to main content

Myth of the Eastern Front records

 Collection
Identifier: ACCN 2380

Scope and Contents

The Myth of the Eastern Front records (1930s-2006) consist of drafts and research materials for The Myth of the Eastern Front: The Nazi-Soviet War in American Popular Culture, written by Edward J. Davies and Ronald M. Smelser. Not every chapter of the book is represented in the collection and some chapters have more materials collected for them than others. Most of the research in the collection consists of printouts of various websites and photocopies of published articles, magazines, and books. In most instances, original folder titles used by the authors were retained.

Dates

  • 1930s-2006

Language of Materials

Collection materials are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.

Conditions Governing Use

The library does not claim to control copyright for all materials in the collection. An individual depicted in a reproduction has privacy rights as outlined in Title 45 CFR, part 46 (Protection of Human Subjects). For further information, please review the J. Willard Marriott Library’s Use Agreement and Reproduction Request forms.

Biographical Sketch

The Myth of the Eastern Front: The Nazi-Soviet War in American Popular Culture was published by Cambridge University Press in 2007. Davies and Smelser state that their book "is the story of how the Germans, through a network of former high Wehrmacht officers and Bundeswehr officers who had served in World War II, created in the minds of the American military, then journalists and popular writers, an interpretation of World War II in the East disturbingly similar to that projected by Hitler's regime during the war itself and that left the Wehrmacht with a largely 'clean' reputation as to its conduct of that war. This view, which the Americans gradually absorbed during the 1950s, continues in the popular literature and part of the media to this day, and indeed delineates a broad subculture of general readers, German military enthusiasts, war game aficionados, military paraphernalia collectors, and reenactors."

Edward J. Davies and Ronald M. Smelser are professors at the University of Utah.

Extent

21 Linear Feet (47 boxes)

Abstract

The Myth of the Eastern Front records (1930s-2006) consist of drafts and research materials for The Myth of the Eastern Front: The Nazi-Soviet War in American Popular Culture, written by Edward J. Davies and Ronald M. Smelser. Both Davies and Smelser are professors at the University of Utah.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Boxes 1-32 were donated by Edward Davies in November 2007 (15.75 linear feet).

Boxes 33-43 were donated by Ronald Smelser in November 2007 (5.25 linear feet).

Related Materials

See also the Ronald M. Smelser papers (ACCN 2374) located in the Manuscripts Division of Special Collections.

Separated Materials

Photographs were transferred to the Multimedia Division of Special Collections (P1495).

Processing Information

Processed by Lisa DeMille in 2008.
Title
Inventory of the Myth of the Eastern Front records, 1930s-2006
Author
Finding aid created by Lisa DeMille and Elizabeth Rogers
Date
© 2008 (last modified: 2011, 2018 and 2019)
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid encoded in English in Latin script.

Repository Details

Part of the J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections Repository

Contact:
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City Utah 84112 United States
801-581-8863