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More copies of this ISBN:Over Here: How the G.I. Bill Transformed the American Dreamby Edward Humes
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:In 1944, the U.S. government feared the flood of returning World War II soldiers as much as it looked forward to peace. To avoid economic catastrophe, FDR, the American Legion, William Randolph Hearst, and others began crafting the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944. It would be the single most transformative bill of the twentieth century. Spun as the G.I. Bill of Rights, this program for vets included home loans, health care, educational funds, and career counseling. The effects were immediate and enduring—the suburbs, the middle class, America’s ever-increasing number of college graduates, the lunar landing—all are tied to the G.I. Bill. The Greatest Generation would not exist without it: Norman Mailer, Bob Dole, John F. Kennedy, Paul Newman, Jimmy Carter, Clint Eastwood, and many others benefited from its provisions. Here are the stories of some of these men and women, how their lives changed because of the bill and how this country changed because of them. Review:"Humes examines and celebrates the G.I. Bill, the benefit program for veterans signed into law two weeks after D-Day. A remarkably farsighted piece of legislation, the G.I. Bill aimed to reintegrate into American society the 16 million veterans who would return from WWII. To explain how the bill worked, Humes (Mississippi Mud) tells the stories of 10 veterans, showing how G.I. benefits changed their postwar lives and transformed American society. In the five years after V-J Day, eight million returning vets made use of the bill's educational provisions, while the bill's loan guarantees brought home ownership within the reach of five million vets, resulting in the explosive development of suburbia. Humes is alert to the G.I. Bill's failures as well. For example, black vets were shunted into vocational training rather than college and were systematically redlined away from the new suburbs. Humes has a political point to make: the bill, he says, was an enormous giveaway program by big government, one that cost a fortune while reaping an even larger fortune for the country. Yet the WWII vets who benefited from this largesse became the core constituency opposing taxpayer funding of social programs, with the result that only meager benefits await those returning from today's wars." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.) Book News Annotation:Quite by accident, according to Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
Humes, the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, better known as the
GI Bill of Rights, sparked a profound transformation of American
society and resulted in mass homeownership, greater access to higher
education for all Americans, and the growth of suburbia. Humes
describes the origins of the bill and illustrates its impact on
American society through stories of its effects on individual
veterans lives.
Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com) Review:"Careful and colorful reporting. [A]s inspiring as those recounting its survival of the Depression and triumph in war." --Kirkus
Review: "A wonderful, personal, and important reminder of how a single law enabled millions of highly motivated and grateful Americans to transform our country." (Bob Kerrey)Review:"Humes has a wonderful knack for finding a big story in the little stories of everyday life." (D.J. Waldie)Review:"Over Here — the great untold story that needs to be told all the younger generations." (Lawrence Ferlinghetti)Review:"An immensely readable account of one of the smartest, most workable projects our government ever thought up." (Caroylyn See)Synopsis:Here are the stories of some of the men and women returning from World War II, and how their lives changed because of the G.I. Bill of Rights, and how this country changed because of them. The effects were immediate and enduring--the suburbs, the middle class, America's ever-increasing number of college graduates, the lunar landing--all are tied to the G.I. Bill.
About the AuthorEDWARD HUMES is a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist who has contributed to Talk, the Los Angeles Times Sunday Magazine, Los Angeles magazine, and others. Humes’s numerous books include School of Dreams and the bestselling Mississippi Mud, Mean Justice, and No Matter How Loud I Shout. A graduate of Hampshire College, he lives in Southern California.
Table of ContentsContents PROLOGUE Troop Movement Unlike Any Other CHAPTER 1 The Greatest Regeneration: The Accidental Remaking of America CHAPTER 2 Cold Wars, Hot Rockets, a New American Dream CHAPTER 3 Investing in the Future: Bill Thomas and the Rise of Suburbia CHAPTER 4 Bill and Vivian Kingsley: G.I. Tech CHAPTER 5 Out of the Blue: Medical Miracles CHAPTER 6 Nixon and Kennedy, Bonnie and Clyde: The G.I. Bill and the Arts CHAPTER 7 Gunnery Mates and Other Invisible Veterans: Women and the G.I. Bill that Wasn’t CHAPTER 8 Monte Posey’s War: Race and the G.I. Bill CHAPTER 9 What’s inside? Leaders and the G.I. Bill EPILOGUE Kilroy’s Not Here: The Future and the G.I. Bill ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A NOTE ON SOURCES INDEX
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