Museum of World War II  Near Boston, More than 6,000 Artifacts
Put History into Unforgettable Perspective  We all know how it
began: German troops goose-stepping down the Champs-Élysées and
Japanese dive-bombers swooping down on American battleships at
Pearl Harbor. We also know how it concluded, with Hitler dead in
his bunker and mushroom clouds over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. What
we often forget, however, is exactly how people lived and fought
in between and how, but for some lucky breaks for the United
States and its allies, the finish might have been altogether
different. Here to remind us is a small but remarkably complete
museum just outside Boston.  “I bought all kinds of stuff, from
uniforms to a homemade scoop to pick up incendiary bombs,” says
Kenneth W. Rendell.  The Museum of World War II is the work of
just one man: Kenneth W. Rendell, a dealer in historical letters
and documents, who started collecting when he was 12 years old.
Rendell has a gallery on Madison Avenue and an office in Boston.
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