Home Front U.S.A. America During World War II

by Winkler, Allan M.

• ISBN13: 9780882952864
• ISBN10: 0882952862
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-02-21
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

New scholarship on World War II continues to broaden our understanding. With each passing year we know more about the triumphs and the tragedies of America's involvement in the momentous conflict. Tapping into this greater awareness of the accomplishments of both soldiers and civilians and a better recognition of the consequences of decisions made, Allan Winkler presents the third edition of his highly popular series volume. Informed by the latest historical literature and featuring many new thoughtfully chosen photographs, the third edition of Home Front U.S.A. continues to ponder the question of "the good war," the moral implications of the use of the atomic bomb, the implications of expanding wartime roles for women, African Americans, American Jews, the imprisonment of Japanese Americans at the hands of the federal government, and the experiences of the many other people who, though relegated to the fringe of mainstream society, contributed in important ways to the nation's successful prosecution of its greatest challenge.

Author Biography

Allan M. Winkler is Distinguished Professor of History at Miami University in Ohio. He has also taught at Yale University and the University of Oregon and, for one year each, at the University of Helsinki in Finland, the University of Amsterdam in The Netherlands, and the University of Nairobi in Kenya. A prize-winning teacher, he is author of ten books of his own, which include Life Under a Cloud: American Anxiety about the Atom, Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Making of Modern America, and “To Everything There is a Season”: Pete Seeger and the Power of Song, and co-author of the college textbook The American People: Creating a nation and a Society and the high school textbook America: Pathways to the Present.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments / vii

Preface to the Third Edition / xi

Prologue / 1

Chapter One: The Arsenal of Democracy / 7

The President and Mobilization / 7

Industrial Mobilization / 12

Mobilization and the Business Community / 16

Mobilization and the Workforce / 20

Mobilization and Money / 25

Conclusion / 28

Chapter Two: American Society at War / 30

Mood and Morale / 31

Campaigns and Popular Change / 37

Shortages and Controls / 43

Wartime Dislocation / 49

Conclusion / 55

Chapter Three: Outsiders and Ethnic Groups / 56

Women and the War / 57

African Americans and the Struggle for Equality / 65

Latinos at War / 76

American Indians and the War / 80

Italian Americans under Attack / 82

Chinese Americans in the Conflict / 83

Japanese Americans: Civilian Casualties of War / 84

American Jews and the War / 88

Conclusion / 90

Chapter Four: The Politics of War / 91

The Elections of 1940 and 1942 / 92

The Elections of 1944 / 96

The Impact of the Conservative Coalition / 100

Executive Leadership and Expansion / 105

Harry S. Truman / 108

Conclusion / 110

Epilogue / 111

Bibliographical Essay / 116

Index / 131

Illustrations and Photographs follow page 20