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Don't You Know There's a War On?: The American Home Front 1941-1945
The tragic events of September 11, 2001 brought to the surface memories of an earlier time of unprecedented national emergency -- Pearl Harbor -- and America's subsequent involvement in World War II. In this evocative cultural history, Richard Lingeman re-creates the events -- historic, humorous, and tragic -- and personalities of the American home front. From V-girls and V-mail, blackouts and the internment of the Japanese, to new opportunities for African-Americans and women, Lingeman recaptures a unique time in American history in this New York Times Notable Book.
412 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1970
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
November 26, 2018
Nostalgic look at the American home front from Pearl Harbor to 1945. Covers the industrial mobilization for war, rationing and shortages, war nerves, the changing demographics, the propaganda campaign, wartime books, movies, radio, and baseball.
I especially enjoyed the responses of cartoon characters to the war. Joe Palooka and Skeezix joined the army and Barney Google the navy, but Prince Valiant ignored the war, for obvious reasons. And Superman, for reasons not quite so obvious. Dick Tracy did naval intelligence, Mickey Finn joined the coast guard, and Smilin’ Jack the air force. Little Orphan Annie helped on the home front, as did Aunt Fritzi Ritz. And, as any old timer knows, Sad Sack joined the army.
Indexed, with bibliography.
I especially enjoyed the responses of cartoon characters to the war. Joe Palooka and Skeezix joined the army and Barney Google the navy, but Prince Valiant ignored the war, for obvious reasons. And Superman, for reasons not quite so obvious. Dick Tracy did naval intelligence, Mickey Finn joined the coast guard, and Smilin’ Jack the air force. Little Orphan Annie helped on the home front, as did Aunt Fritzi Ritz. And, as any old timer knows, Sad Sack joined the army.
Indexed, with bibliography.
January 9, 2023
"A TIME OF PATRIOTS, PROFITS, AND CROOKS"
Unless the time period or event was especially horrific and personal, humans tend to homogenize or gloss them over as time moves on. Mr. Lingeman’s 1970 ‘Don’t You Know There’s a War On?’ does an excellent job of clarifying how people living stateside reacted to the United States getting into and during the duration of the World War II conflict. The book was reissued in 2003 with a new introduction about 9/11. The author compared our nation’s reactions to the terrorists’ attacks with how citizens responded to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. What immediately jumped out to me was the similarity between the two time periods in how citizens’ responses were quite varied and combative. In 2023, we lament how so many U.S. people avoided the collective good by not taking cautionary steps during Covid and focused mostly on their personal economic well-being and individual freedoms. The people back in the 1940s would’ve reacted the same way if President Roosevelt and his sycophantic members of Congress had acted like President Foghorn Leghorn Trump. Leadership really does set the tone of constructive or destructive discourse.
Just like today, U.S. citizens argued about state-federal and local-state power dynamics. Their panic hoarding of certain items such as sugar and coffee was similar to people hoarding toilet paper during the initial stages of Covid-19. Opportunistic politicians and greed-driven businessmen made political hay and massive profits from our nation mobilizing for war. Many citizens were exploited. The large corporations were the true winners in raking in government money while a lot of small businesses closed. ‘Don’t You Know There’s a War On?’ also explains how jittery people were highly susceptible to rumors and conspiracy theories. Q-Anon would’ve had a field day back then if the Internet had been part of our country’s infrastructure. Mr. Lingeman includes such things as the formation and effectiveness of the various civil defense leagues; how volunteerism widely varied; implementing blackouts and dimouts; how defense building caused the massive migration of citizens throughout the United States; how manufacturers turned small communities into large bustling war towns and how it stirred up local prejudices about “outsiders” moving to their area; housing shortages; a major uptick in juvenile delinquency, risky sex, and wartime marriages; how war altered our nation’s social typography; Washington D.C. became a “brawling, sprawling boomtown”; cost-plus manufacturing, mass production, and labor relations; bureaucratic red tape and agency turf wars; the government halting nonessential production (the list was quite extensive) and rationing; how supply shortages altered fashion; sexism; hardcore violent racism, anti-Semitism, and stripping Japanese-Americans of their Constitutional rights; cultural clashes and class conflicts; how the war transformed movie entertainment, radio, music, the press, and advertising; and how Americans’ pastimes and amusements altered. The book ignores environmental degradation due to war production. ‘Don’t You Know There’s a War On?’ does not include photos.
We view the Greatest Generation as some haloed group with nary a person stepping out of line in the war effort. It is a myth. To be sure, there were immense sacrifices but there was also plenty of scamming fellow home-front citizens for personal profits or political gain. ‘Don’t You Know There’s a War On?’ gives an excellent clear-eyed view of the time period between 1941-1945. Each page is chockfull of interesting information with one exception involving sports. For me, Mr. Lingeman’s lengthy descriptions about the various professional sports got into way too much detail about stats and athletes. However, history books of this caliber remove those nostalgic glasses from your face and help place the human condition into proper perspective. While there have been societal advancements such as in civil rights and astounding progress in science as well as technology, humans have hardly (if at all) evolved into a more emotionally-balanced rational species compared to previous generations. I found Mr. Lingeman’s book to be a therapeutic enlightening work.
Unless the time period or event was especially horrific and personal, humans tend to homogenize or gloss them over as time moves on. Mr. Lingeman’s 1970 ‘Don’t You Know There’s a War On?’ does an excellent job of clarifying how people living stateside reacted to the United States getting into and during the duration of the World War II conflict. The book was reissued in 2003 with a new introduction about 9/11. The author compared our nation’s reactions to the terrorists’ attacks with how citizens responded to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. What immediately jumped out to me was the similarity between the two time periods in how citizens’ responses were quite varied and combative. In 2023, we lament how so many U.S. people avoided the collective good by not taking cautionary steps during Covid and focused mostly on their personal economic well-being and individual freedoms. The people back in the 1940s would’ve reacted the same way if President Roosevelt and his sycophantic members of Congress had acted like President Foghorn Leghorn Trump. Leadership really does set the tone of constructive or destructive discourse.
Just like today, U.S. citizens argued about state-federal and local-state power dynamics. Their panic hoarding of certain items such as sugar and coffee was similar to people hoarding toilet paper during the initial stages of Covid-19. Opportunistic politicians and greed-driven businessmen made political hay and massive profits from our nation mobilizing for war. Many citizens were exploited. The large corporations were the true winners in raking in government money while a lot of small businesses closed. ‘Don’t You Know There’s a War On?’ also explains how jittery people were highly susceptible to rumors and conspiracy theories. Q-Anon would’ve had a field day back then if the Internet had been part of our country’s infrastructure. Mr. Lingeman includes such things as the formation and effectiveness of the various civil defense leagues; how volunteerism widely varied; implementing blackouts and dimouts; how defense building caused the massive migration of citizens throughout the United States; how manufacturers turned small communities into large bustling war towns and how it stirred up local prejudices about “outsiders” moving to their area; housing shortages; a major uptick in juvenile delinquency, risky sex, and wartime marriages; how war altered our nation’s social typography; Washington D.C. became a “brawling, sprawling boomtown”; cost-plus manufacturing, mass production, and labor relations; bureaucratic red tape and agency turf wars; the government halting nonessential production (the list was quite extensive) and rationing; how supply shortages altered fashion; sexism; hardcore violent racism, anti-Semitism, and stripping Japanese-Americans of their Constitutional rights; cultural clashes and class conflicts; how the war transformed movie entertainment, radio, music, the press, and advertising; and how Americans’ pastimes and amusements altered. The book ignores environmental degradation due to war production. ‘Don’t You Know There’s a War On?’ does not include photos.
We view the Greatest Generation as some haloed group with nary a person stepping out of line in the war effort. It is a myth. To be sure, there were immense sacrifices but there was also plenty of scamming fellow home-front citizens for personal profits or political gain. ‘Don’t You Know There’s a War On?’ gives an excellent clear-eyed view of the time period between 1941-1945. Each page is chockfull of interesting information with one exception involving sports. For me, Mr. Lingeman’s lengthy descriptions about the various professional sports got into way too much detail about stats and athletes. However, history books of this caliber remove those nostalgic glasses from your face and help place the human condition into proper perspective. While there have been societal advancements such as in civil rights and astounding progress in science as well as technology, humans have hardly (if at all) evolved into a more emotionally-balanced rational species compared to previous generations. I found Mr. Lingeman’s book to be a therapeutic enlightening work.
December 14, 2024
A topic that's underrepresented gets a good survey in this work. All the major aspects are covered: politics, patriotism, labor and the war industry, perceptions of the enemy, influence of women and minorities, the economy, entertainment, rationing.
It's also interesting that since the book is over fifty years old now, there's a double historical perspective. For example, when he discusses gas rationing, it's an echo of the 1973 and 1979 OPEC oil crises, which still lay in the future in 1970.
Everything's fair game here, including the multitude of government agencies directing the war effort that were often working at cross-purposes, leading to plenty of red tape and inefficiency. At the same time, the black market threw plenty of wrenches into the government machinery. I don't agree, though, that a tradesperson keeping back his best or only stock for loyal customers (of cuts of meat, shoes, or other items subject to rationing) was implicitly part of the black market.
It's natural to favor your friends, and a good business practice as well. Referring again to the gas crises of the '70s, most station owners took care of their regular customers. I can't see the logic, for example, in not allowing people to trade ration cards or points. After all, the ration itself doesn't change if you use it instead of me.
The most interesting topics for me are the war's effects on news, entertainment and sports. Ernie Pyle's story is fascinating; seeing people at their best, in ways or acts that the person probably never imagined they were cut out for. Even the baseball and football adjustments not only made for a unique couple of seasons, but also showing how eagerly sought ways to keep up their morale.
I understand that in a wide-ranging book that spans so many topics that some repetition is inevitable, There's a few pages, though, where an event or notable person's mentioned three times; that would make sense if the point is developed, but not to just repeat the same information. On the other hand, there's a few transitions that leave me wondering if he's referring to the previous topic, or introducing a new one.
I admit those complaints are minor, and overall this is a good read on a relatively neglected story.
...
It's also interesting that since the book is over fifty years old now, there's a double historical perspective. For example, when he discusses gas rationing, it's an echo of the 1973 and 1979 OPEC oil crises, which still lay in the future in 1970.
Everything's fair game here, including the multitude of government agencies directing the war effort that were often working at cross-purposes, leading to plenty of red tape and inefficiency. At the same time, the black market threw plenty of wrenches into the government machinery. I don't agree, though, that a tradesperson keeping back his best or only stock for loyal customers (of cuts of meat, shoes, or other items subject to rationing) was implicitly part of the black market.
It's natural to favor your friends, and a good business practice as well. Referring again to the gas crises of the '70s, most station owners took care of their regular customers. I can't see the logic, for example, in not allowing people to trade ration cards or points. After all, the ration itself doesn't change if you use it instead of me.
The most interesting topics for me are the war's effects on news, entertainment and sports. Ernie Pyle's story is fascinating; seeing people at their best, in ways or acts that the person probably never imagined they were cut out for. Even the baseball and football adjustments not only made for a unique couple of seasons, but also showing how eagerly sought ways to keep up their morale.
I understand that in a wide-ranging book that spans so many topics that some repetition is inevitable, There's a few pages, though, where an event or notable person's mentioned three times; that would make sense if the point is developed, but not to just repeat the same information. On the other hand, there's a few transitions that leave me wondering if he's referring to the previous topic, or introducing a new one.
I admit those complaints are minor, and overall this is a good read on a relatively neglected story.
...
April 30, 2025
I'd rate this more like 3.5. some chapters were a 3, some were a 4. it was an interesting look at the socioeconomic situation of the American people during WWII. Some pieces were just a list of facts (like baseball players ages), while some pieces gave vivid descriptions of events (like the 1943 Detroit race riots). I found the beginning very engaging. You start out the day before Pearl harbor and then the immediate aftermath. It was not the usual perspective.
July 18, 2024
Extraordinarily informative with details, and statistics. Anyone interested in learning more about World War II from the perspective of Americans will find this book a must-read. The author has certainly done his resesarch.
March 3, 2020
A little slow going, but packed with information.
March 15, 2023
So much I did not know about wartime here in the states. Wish I'd gotten some of these stories from my parents.
May 2, 2024
Great info for my research!
August 22, 2024
I think this book got on my reading list because it was mentioned in another book. It is an amazing look into life in the United States during WW2. My only criticism would be stats, stats, stats.
December 1, 2020
Enlightening and written masterfully! I was reading “Essential Capital America Vol. 8” and came across a reference to this book from one of the writers.
The writing is remarkable, able to recast the story of the American home front from every corner. For anyone looking for a WW II book this is a unique read. I found impressive the sheer amount of information culled by Richard R. Lineman and appreciated very much the diligence to details. It’s a long read and I don’t imagine people lightheartedly picking this book up unless they’re searching for forgotten memories of olden times. However I savored nearly every page for the rich vocabulary and manicured sentences, and relished the tidbits of names and figures. The book does a great job of explaining the consequences of our involvement in the war and how it set in motion permanent institutions. It was fascinating to learn how the country bent and rationed, restricted and sacrificed for the war.
The writing is remarkable, able to recast the story of the American home front from every corner. For anyone looking for a WW II book this is a unique read. I found impressive the sheer amount of information culled by Richard R. Lineman and appreciated very much the diligence to details. It’s a long read and I don’t imagine people lightheartedly picking this book up unless they’re searching for forgotten memories of olden times. However I savored nearly every page for the rich vocabulary and manicured sentences, and relished the tidbits of names and figures. The book does a great job of explaining the consequences of our involvement in the war and how it set in motion permanent institutions. It was fascinating to learn how the country bent and rationed, restricted and sacrificed for the war.
September 2, 2013
This book provided some excellent insight into the American home front during World War II. I appreciated the often-humorous tone that Lingeman takes with his reporting, particularly when he details the political wrangling and rhetoric of the day. My parents were teenagers at the time, and the author got more than a few of their experiences exactly right. This is a superb reference book.
July 30, 2009
I would call this a good reference book. It is very informative about what was going on at "Home" during WWII. However, I found it a slow read.
September 25, 2011
I really didn't like this as much as I was hoping for. I prefer books without a political bias and a lot more first-person accounts.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews