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Taken by Force: Rape and American GIs in Europe during World War II
Sociologist and criminologist Professor Bob Lilly makes unprecedented use of military records and trial transcripts to throw light on one of the overlooked consequences of the US Army's presence in Western Europe between 1942 and 1945: the rape of an estimated 14,000 civilian women in the United Kingdom, France and Germany. By focusing on a group of men - the 'greatest generation' - more commonly idolized in the Western historical imagination, the study makes an important and original contribution to our understanding of sexual violence in armed conflict. Taken by Force speaks as often as possible through the protagonists themselves and examines the differing social contexts prevailing in each country where the crimes were committed. Attention is also given to the racial dimension of this the disproportionate number of black GIs prosecuted and the relative harshness of their sentences when convicted.
266 pages, Hardcover
First published July 15, 2007
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About the author
J. Robert Lilly
21 books6 followersJames Robert Lilly is Regents Professor of Sociology/Criminology and Adjunct Professor of Law at Northern Kentucky University.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 21, 2016
No nation wants to look at it's ugly past. Especially from WWII. Stephen Ambrose has made the entire world put on pink coloured glasses and has had us all accept his version of events and that the GIs were the greatest generation, undisputed heroes. And who doesn't enjoy his books? His view? Stephen Spielberg's and Thom Hanks' views? But there is an ugly "underbelly" to Stephen Ambrose's glorified view of the war. We can not deny it or we will be no better than the revisionists that claim that the Holocaust never happened. You only need to start reading the memoirs of people in Ambrose's beloved 101st Easy Company, and you will find out that a LOT of the soldiers were no angels. They were hardly ever sober. A lot of them fooled around with women when they had wives and girlfriends waiting at home. And they had no qualms about looting people's homes.
It is outright disgusting to read in this book that it could not be published basically, in the US, while Ambrose was still alive since he wanted to protect America from the truth . Everything from Eisenhower's mistress and his often sick decisions to the darker sides of sending hormone governed teenage boys to Europe and then not taking responsibility for that.
This book is no light read for several reasons. One doesn't want it to be true for one. Ambrose's view is so much nicer. It is also heavy, resembling a dissertation, not meant for the general audience. There are lots of numbers, statistics presented as well as many questions that simply can't be answered.
In a way this is a disappointing book because it shows that we will never know WHY these men raped even allied women. The rapists were tried by the military courts and they had no need for causes. The court martials were for one reason only and that was to create discipline by example.
The book can not tell how many were raped either. The dark numbers are expected to be 95%, just like they are today, and if only 5% were reported, the military did not even bother bringing those 5% to court. So in a way the book gives a warped view of things but that view also says something about what was going on. The military only tried the most gruesome of the rapes to set examples. The book in other words can only discuss the darkest rapes in other words, the ones the military bothered recording and the dark numbers are enormous.
Is it still worth reading? Absolutely. Because it shows a side of the war that we need to see. To get a full picture of the war we need to study all aspects, not just Ambrose's heroes. And Ambrose is brought up many times in this book since he has turned many historians against looking at history objectively.
The sad picture that emerges in the book is that the military brought the US segregation and racism with it to Europe. And most cases brought to trial were ones with a coloured person as rapist and coming from the supply companies. We will never know how many white rapists that got away.
The author lets us read many of the cases and we never find a reason for the rape but a picture surface that they all behaved suddenly in a manner they never would have behaved in, at home. The author does not say that coloured people committed all rapes, but those were the cases brought to court martial and as we know today, there is no difference in colour and rape frequency so there can't have been back then either.
The book studies the three countries that the GIs spent most time in and the most shocking is how many rapes took place in friendly England where they staid the longest and got to know people and customs and already knew the language. Here the military could investigate properly. That was not so in France were the front moved all the time, where they could not get to the crime scene on time or stay and investigate. The French were not all friendly and language barriers could have been part of the rape problem. The book states that veterans from WWI had spread out rumours for years that French women were without morals and gladly had sex with coloured men. All GIs knew this and they went especially crazy the closer to Paris they got which was the Mecca of sin. When they moved on to Germany, the records change somewhat and shows more white people tried and that it was no longer supply companies. Groups raping also became more common.
What stands clear after reading this book, rapes happened more often than we would like to think. The US military chose to overlook most of the crimes for various reasons. But worse of all was that there was no consistency in the harshness or leniency in punishment. Length of penalty or death penalty, was all up to different commanders. Rape could lead to 10, 20, 30 years, hanging or nothing at all. When law experts in the forces started to point out to Eisenhower that you must have one consistent punishment, he roared that the current system had no faults.
It's a daunting book to read since you understand that justice was an arbitrary thing. And to find out that thousands of rapes only resulted in tears, wrecked lives and unwanted pregnancies is also depressing.The worse was that the military in their actions, told white GIs that it was all right to rape since hardly any was brought to trial.
It is outright disgusting to read in this book that it could not be published basically, in the US, while Ambrose was still alive since he wanted to protect America from the truth . Everything from Eisenhower's mistress and his often sick decisions to the darker sides of sending hormone governed teenage boys to Europe and then not taking responsibility for that.
This book is no light read for several reasons. One doesn't want it to be true for one. Ambrose's view is so much nicer. It is also heavy, resembling a dissertation, not meant for the general audience. There are lots of numbers, statistics presented as well as many questions that simply can't be answered.
In a way this is a disappointing book because it shows that we will never know WHY these men raped even allied women. The rapists were tried by the military courts and they had no need for causes. The court martials were for one reason only and that was to create discipline by example.
The book can not tell how many were raped either. The dark numbers are expected to be 95%, just like they are today, and if only 5% were reported, the military did not even bother bringing those 5% to court. So in a way the book gives a warped view of things but that view also says something about what was going on. The military only tried the most gruesome of the rapes to set examples. The book in other words can only discuss the darkest rapes in other words, the ones the military bothered recording and the dark numbers are enormous.
Is it still worth reading? Absolutely. Because it shows a side of the war that we need to see. To get a full picture of the war we need to study all aspects, not just Ambrose's heroes. And Ambrose is brought up many times in this book since he has turned many historians against looking at history objectively.
The sad picture that emerges in the book is that the military brought the US segregation and racism with it to Europe. And most cases brought to trial were ones with a coloured person as rapist and coming from the supply companies. We will never know how many white rapists that got away.
The author lets us read many of the cases and we never find a reason for the rape but a picture surface that they all behaved suddenly in a manner they never would have behaved in, at home. The author does not say that coloured people committed all rapes, but those were the cases brought to court martial and as we know today, there is no difference in colour and rape frequency so there can't have been back then either.
The book studies the three countries that the GIs spent most time in and the most shocking is how many rapes took place in friendly England where they staid the longest and got to know people and customs and already knew the language. Here the military could investigate properly. That was not so in France were the front moved all the time, where they could not get to the crime scene on time or stay and investigate. The French were not all friendly and language barriers could have been part of the rape problem. The book states that veterans from WWI had spread out rumours for years that French women were without morals and gladly had sex with coloured men. All GIs knew this and they went especially crazy the closer to Paris they got which was the Mecca of sin. When they moved on to Germany, the records change somewhat and shows more white people tried and that it was no longer supply companies. Groups raping also became more common.
What stands clear after reading this book, rapes happened more often than we would like to think. The US military chose to overlook most of the crimes for various reasons. But worse of all was that there was no consistency in the harshness or leniency in punishment. Length of penalty or death penalty, was all up to different commanders. Rape could lead to 10, 20, 30 years, hanging or nothing at all. When law experts in the forces started to point out to Eisenhower that you must have one consistent punishment, he roared that the current system had no faults.
It's a daunting book to read since you understand that justice was an arbitrary thing. And to find out that thousands of rapes only resulted in tears, wrecked lives and unwanted pregnancies is also depressing.The worse was that the military in their actions, told white GIs that it was all right to rape since hardly any was brought to trial.
November 20, 2025
Honestly this is probably the worst book I’ve read in a long time not because of the writing - which was actually fine - but the content which is basically apologist and trying to make the reader feel bad for the rapists while basically exploiting the victims by profiting off of their vivid testimony. Basically the bulk of the book is incredibly detailed rape testimony that does not contribute to the findings in the slightest. Why do I need extensive rape testimony of a three-year old? Of married women? Pregnant women? Teenagers? What does this contribute other than an almost grotesque obsession with the events of the rape on behalf of the author.
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October 28, 2016940.5405 L7297 2007
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews