God and Uncle Sam: Religion and America's Armed Forces in World War II
An authoritative and timely book shedding new light on the role of religion during World War II and its impact on post-war American society.

America's armed forces played a critical part in the defeat of Hitler's Germany and made by far the biggest contribution to the Allied defeat of Japan. In the US, military veterans of World War II are widely revered as the foremost representatives of 'the greatest generation', a generation that vanquished fascism in Europe and the Far East, faced down the threat of communism during the Cold War, and achieved unprecedented levels of prosperity and social mobility in their own society. Elsewhere, America's service men and women are often remembered more ambivalently for their material abundance, their hedonism, and even their rapacity.
God and Uncle Sam shows that bothperspectives are problematic: America's armed forces were the products of one of the most diverse and dynamic religious cultures in the western world and were the largest ever to be raised by a professedly religious society. Despite constitutional constraints, a pre-war 'religious depression', and the myriad pitfalls of war, religion played a crucial role in helping more than sixteen million uniformed Americans through the ordeal of World War II, a fact that had profound and far-reaching implications for the religious development of post-war America. This timely and authoritative book draws on meticulous research in US archives and is informed by contemporary films, photographs, posters, and sound recordings.
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God and Uncle Sam: Religion and America's Armed Forces in World War II
An authoritative and timely book shedding new light on the role of religion during World War II and its impact on post-war American society.

America's armed forces played a critical part in the defeat of Hitler's Germany and made by far the biggest contribution to the Allied defeat of Japan. In the US, military veterans of World War II are widely revered as the foremost representatives of 'the greatest generation', a generation that vanquished fascism in Europe and the Far East, faced down the threat of communism during the Cold War, and achieved unprecedented levels of prosperity and social mobility in their own society. Elsewhere, America's service men and women are often remembered more ambivalently for their material abundance, their hedonism, and even their rapacity.
God and Uncle Sam shows that bothperspectives are problematic: America's armed forces were the products of one of the most diverse and dynamic religious cultures in the western world and were the largest ever to be raised by a professedly religious society. Despite constitutional constraints, a pre-war 'religious depression', and the myriad pitfalls of war, religion played a crucial role in helping more than sixteen million uniformed Americans through the ordeal of World War II, a fact that had profound and far-reaching implications for the religious development of post-war America. This timely and authoritative book draws on meticulous research in US archives and is informed by contemporary films, photographs, posters, and sound recordings.
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God and Uncle Sam: Religion and America's Armed Forces in World War II

God and Uncle Sam: Religion and America's Armed Forces in World War II

by Michael Snape
God and Uncle Sam: Religion and America's Armed Forces in World War II

God and Uncle Sam: Religion and America's Armed Forces in World War II

by Michael Snape

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Overview

An authoritative and timely book shedding new light on the role of religion during World War II and its impact on post-war American society.

America's armed forces played a critical part in the defeat of Hitler's Germany and made by far the biggest contribution to the Allied defeat of Japan. In the US, military veterans of World War II are widely revered as the foremost representatives of 'the greatest generation', a generation that vanquished fascism in Europe and the Far East, faced down the threat of communism during the Cold War, and achieved unprecedented levels of prosperity and social mobility in their own society. Elsewhere, America's service men and women are often remembered more ambivalently for their material abundance, their hedonism, and even their rapacity.
God and Uncle Sam shows that bothperspectives are problematic: America's armed forces were the products of one of the most diverse and dynamic religious cultures in the western world and were the largest ever to be raised by a professedly religious society. Despite constitutional constraints, a pre-war 'religious depression', and the myriad pitfalls of war, religion played a crucial role in helping more than sixteen million uniformed Americans through the ordeal of World War II, a fact that had profound and far-reaching implications for the religious development of post-war America. This timely and authoritative book draws on meticulous research in US archives and is informed by contemporary films, photographs, posters, and sound recordings.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781783275045
Publisher: BOYDELL & BREWER INC
Publication date: 03/20/2020
Pages: 744
Product dimensions: 6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x (d)

About the Author

MICHAEL SNAPE is Michael Ramsey Professor of Anglican Studies at Durham University.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations viii

Acknowledgements xi

Note on Spelling xvi

Abbreviations xvii

Chronology xix

Introduction 1

1 Chaplains and Chaplaincy 47

2 Religion and American Military Culture 138

3 The Faithful in Arms 244

4 Foxhole Religion and Wartime Faith 317

5 Global Encounters 396

6 Religion, War and Morality 511

Conclusion 591

Notes 601

Bibliography 657

Index 689

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