What Soldiers Do: Sex and the American GI in World War II France
Mary Louise Roberts
How do you convince men to charge across heavily mined beaches into deadly machine-gun fire? If you're the US Army in 1944, one of your approaches is dangling the lure of beautiful French women, ready to reward their liberators in oh so many ways. Roberts tells the troubling story of how the US military command exploited the myth of French women as sexually experienced and available. The resulting sexual predation, and the blithe response of the American military leadership, caused serious friction between the two nations just as they were attempting to settle questions of long-term control over the liberated territories and the restoration of French sovereignty.
Award History
1 wins · 1 total
| Award | Year | Result | Category / Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| American Historical Association Book Prizes: AHA Prize in European International History | 2014 | Winner | Official source |
Experimental book profileGenerated by GPT-5.4 nano · may contain inaccuracies
This is an unverified interpretation of the catalog description, offered as an opt-in discovery experiment—not as bibliographic fact.
01 Central figures
None extracted with sufficient confidence.
02 Central places
- France86%
03 Suggested argument
In 1944, US military command exploited myths about French women’s sexual availability, and this sexual predation and leadership indifference created serious Franco-American friction during the struggle over post-liberation control.
Model confidence 66%
04 Reading orientation
62 / 100 academicAcademic
An estimate of intended readership and scholarly apparatus—not quality or importance.
Confidence percentages are the model's own estimates. Profile confidence: 74%.