Wartime America: The World War II Home Front

American Ways Series

by John W. Jeffries

In this new and cogent history of America during World War II, John Jeffries suggests that our view of the war has been shaped by two widely accepted perspectives: as a "Good War" of national unity, virtue, and success; and as a "watershed" or turning point in the nation's history, marking fundamental change. Searching for the reality of experience behind these catchphrases, Mr. Jeffries discovers a richer and more varied portrait of America at war, one that defies easy interpretation. If great changes came to American life, they were not necessarily brought by the war; often the war simply continued or accelerated a trend that had been under way. If the struggle seemed to be one of common cause, the fact is that many Americans experienced social tensions and even conflict on the home front.

Genres: History, World War II, Read For School, Nonfiction, American History

224 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1996

About the author

John W. Jeffries, Professor Emeritus and Dean Emeritus of the College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (Ph.D. Yale University)

Dean Jeffries specializes in twentieth-century America and American political and policy history. His distinguished teaching has earned him designation as a UMBC Presidential Teaching Professor and gained him a University of Maryland Regents Award for Teaching Excellence. Professor Jeffries is also a member of the Policy Sciences Graduate Program faculty. He is the author of articles and books on the politics and policy of the Franklin D. Roosevelt era and on the World War II American home front, including Testing the Roosevelt Coalition and Wartime America: The World War II Home Front. He is editor of the 1929-1945 volume of the Encyclopedia of American History (2003, 2nd edition 2009) and is currently working on a study of domestic policy making during World War II. Dr. Jeffries is an Organization of American Historians Distinguished Lecturer for 2004-2016.

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Reviews

[Carolina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jeffries' use of the watershed and "good war" frameworks allows him to explore the American home-front experience with a high degree of nuance, but it also sets the reader up for disappointment as a reader gets invested in the watershed or "good war" question and then never sees it resolved, and some of the space used to discuss the frameworks could have been used to explain the home front in more detail (especially the topics in chapter 8, as these seem to be thrown together at the last minute). And yet, despite this glaring flaw in structure, the book is thought-provoking, as it questions the "good war" and watershed perceptions that are so prevalent in our collective memory, and the book is detailed, as it goes deeper into areas like politics, economics, migrations, and race relations that textbooks generalize.

[John Karabaic · Rating 4 out of 5]

An appropriate day to finish this excellent survey of domestic society & politics during WW2. Certainty brings current events into perspective.

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitive and exploratory. The popular to the marginal. Proud moments to shameful ones. A thorough discussion of culture and statistics, presenting multiple arguments. Chips away at some romantisations and popular beliefs.

[Timothy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written to challenge the historiography that claimed the WWII was a watershed and a Good War, both popular themes in the 1990s. Very useful!