The year 1942 was, in the course of world history a tipping point in which so much was decided. Japan attacked the US bringing the war to the US, Hitler was at Stalingrad and much was in doubt as to how the world would be in even a few years. I had looked forward to a look at the world in which my mother and father lived. We have all seen series and read books about the greatest generation but few expanded on the changing roles of men and women as well as the irony of fighting for freedom throughout the world while tolerating our own version of apartheid. The author takes pains to expand on these themes. However he does so in a fashion that is tiresome and repetitive . He organized the book by months of the year and by doing this necessitated the retelling of the same types of stories for each month. There was no body of information the reader could identify as, for instance, telling the story of race during that first year of the war. So for each month he reiterates information about race relations, rationing and the expansion of arms manufacture along with a tedious recitation of Washington infighting. There is precious little about how every day Americans lived their lives during this year. Had the material been organized differently and had he added more in the realm of social history this would have been a much more informative and enjoyable book

A wonderful portrait of America in the first year of World War Two, one that goes deep into the history while making surprising connections to our own time that manage to both alarm and reassure. After Pearl Harbor and Hitler's declaration of war, the United States found itself engaged in a struggle that most Americans had hoped to avoid. The nation faced severe political and economic challenges dealing with mobilization, and its military record was not impressive. While some accounts suggest that America's industrial might made its triumph nearly inevitable, Tracy Campbell shows how real the concerns were that American armies and navies might face defeat or that the nation might see its fundamental values destroyed at home, as pressures and fissures resulting from wartime threatened the foundations of American democracy. This work is thoroughly researched and written with great skill. It is highly recommended.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC!