James Wakefield Burke (1906-1989) was an American journalist and writer.

Biography

Burke worked as a salesman and executive sales manager in Chicago until 1941. Then he became a

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

in the US Army Air Force as a test pilot. After World War II Burke made a living as a journalist. From 1945 till 1954 he was stationed in Berlin as correspondent of the magazine ''Esquire''. He reported from the Nuremberg Trials and acted as a public relations adviser to General

Lucius D. Clay General Lucius Dubignon Clay (April 23, 1898 – April 16, 1978) was a senior officer of the United States Army who was known for his administration of occupied Germany after World War II. He served as the deputy to General of the Army Dwight D ...

. Subsequently he was Public Relations Officer for Generals

Joseph T. McNarney Joseph Taggart McNarney (August 28, 1893 – February 1, 1972) was a four-star general in the United States Army and in the United States Air Force, who served as Military Governor of occupied Germany. Early life Joseph Taggart McNarney was ...

, Clay and Frank L. Howley (then American commandant in Berlin). Burke published the book ''The Big Rape'' ("A Historical novel of the fall of Berlin") in 1951. It centers on sexual crimes committed by Soviet Soldiers in Berlin during the capture of the German capital in April and May 1945. The book has been described as both racist and misogynistic by Ingrid Schmidt-Harzbach. Klaus Martens criticized a stereotypical characterization of nations and races by Burke and insinuates a connection between the author and the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

's Psychological Warfare Department. The German edition followed in 1952 (''The Big Rape - Die große Vergewaltigung''), by Amsel Publishing House. A Paperback

edition Edition may refer to: * Edition (book), a bibliographical term for a substantially similar set of copies * Edition (printmaking), a publishing term for a set print run * Edition (textual criticism), a particular version of a text * Edition Recor ...

in German was published in 1953 under the title ''Frau komm!''. Burke published a "fast paced crime novel" in 1954, ''Three Days pass - To Kill''. A German edition titled ''Ami - Go Home!'' was translated by Dietrich Bogulinski. Burke published a total of 26 works. The manuscript of the novel ''Of a Strange Woman'' (1955) is stored in the University of Kentucky Special Collections.

References

Pulp fiction writers Historical fiction writers 20th-century American journalists American political journalists American foreign correspondents American male journalists {{DEFAULTSORT:Burke, James Wakefield 1906 births 1989 deaths