Wartime America: The World War II Home Front

by John W. Jeffries

Overview

Designed to give students a concise compass to probe the history of World War II America and to assess the war’s impact on American life, the new edition of Wartime America retains the framework of the original edition but adds new important focus on topics such as other home fronts, the lives of veterans, expanded coverage of World War II as the Good War, and the concept of “the Greatest Generation.”Jeffries paints a picture of a people emerging from the Great Depression and eager for a better life, yet often reluctant to abandon the touchstones of their past. Combining both an original interpretation and synthesis of recent scholarship, Wartime America offers students a concise exploration of the war’s transformative role in American life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442276499
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	03/08/2018
Series:	American Ways
Edition description:	Second Edition
Pages:	216
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

John W. Jeffries is Dean Emeritus of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences and Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Born in Oxford, Mississippi, he grew up in Annapolis Maryland, earned his B.A. from Harvard and, after five years in the U.S. Navy, his Ph.D. from Yale. In addition to Wartime America, he is author of Testing the Roosevelt Coalition: Connecticut Society and Politics in the Era of World War II; A Third Term for FDR: The Election of 1940; and numerous articles on policy and politics in the Franklin D. Roosevelt presidency.

Table of Contents

Preface
Chapter 1: Frameworks and Meanings
Chapter 2: Mobilizing the Economy
Chapter 3: Victory at Home and Abroad
Chapter 4: A Nation on the Move
Chapter 5: New Circumstances, Old Patterns
Chapter 6: “Americans All?”
Chapter 7: “Politics as Usual”
Chapter 8: “Glimpses of War, Visions of Peace”
Chapter 9: Other Home Fronts, Other Experiences
Chapter 10: Epilogue
A Note on Sources
Index
About the Author

What People are Saying About This

John Morton Blum

A trenchant, lucid, and persuasive analysis.
— author of V was for Victory

Roger Daniels

A rare combination of virtues: both summarizes and modifies existing interpretations. It will become the standard account, the point from which future scholarship will evolve.
— author of Prisoners Without Trial

William M. Jr. Tuttle

Beautiful...answers more questions than any other book about World War II.
— author of Daddy's Gone to War

Editorial Reviews

In a brief but sweeping summation of the ways in which WWII affected the nation's course and character, Jeffries, a professor of history at the University of Maryland, examines the conventional wisdom that the war was a watershed in the country's history that established the U.S. as a world economic and political power, expanded federal power at home, gave impetus to the drives for civil liberties and women's rights and laid the basis for decades of prosperity. Among social changes were increased divorce and juvenile delinquency, displaced small farmers and businessmen, a new reign of bureaucracies and the growth of the sunbelt. Jeffries argues that many of these changes were already in the making and not solely attributable to the war. In a style accessible to students and others new to this historical debate, Jeffries offers a good synthesis of arguments. Ultimately, he considers the "watershed" notion as an oversimplification of enormously complex factors that now distinguish the nation from its prewar past. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Jeffries (history, Univ. of Maryland) analyzes the home front both during World War II and in postwar life. He discusses the "good war" and what that really means. He explores Americans' mobility during the war as they relocated to work in defense plants, creating population shifts still evident today. He also takes up such topics as the expanding economy, women, and African Americans and other minority groups. The larger picture portrayed by Jeffries emphasizes the war as a turning point in American history. "A Note on Sources" serves as the concluding chapter, however, it does not take the place of documenting the facts presented throughout the book with footnotes or endnotes. This detracts from the credibility of the work. An optional title for history collections.Dorothy Lilly, Grosse Pointe North H.S. Lib., Mich.

Library Journal

A trenchant, lucid, and persuasive analysis.

John Morton Blum

A rare combination of virtues: both summarizes and modifies existing interpretations. It will become the standard account, the point from which future scholarship will evolve.

Roger Daniels

Beautiful...answers more questions than any other book about World War II.

William M. Tuttle Jr.