Synopses & Reviews
Because the United States military undertook its first World War II offensive operations in the Pacific within only eight months of Pearl Harbor, most historians and readers of the war’s history depict and perceive the quick transition in 1942 from defensive war to offensive war as a miracle: Poof; here’s your army, here’s your navy, here’s your air force; go thrash the enemy with them. In the narrative Americans have written for themselves, the peace-loving and ill-prepared sleeping giant, the United States, is suddenly struck, out of the blue, by enemies who use her peace-loving ways against her while a mere sprinkling of gallant, dedicated soldiers, sailors, and airmen fight overwhelming odds to barely hold the line against an unremitting backdrop of tearful defeats, especially in the Pacific. Meanwhile, U.S. industry suddenly—instantly—becomes a magical “Arsenal of Democracy” that produces uncountable tanks and ships and guns, not to mention trained soldiers, sailors, and airmen in their legions, fleets, and air armadas that will, in under four years, smash the wiliest and most powerful enemies ever before confronted. The appearance of all that materiel, and all those battle-ready young men so soon after the Pearl Harbor attack, looks exactly like a miracle.
There was no miracle.
Celebrated military historian Eric Hammel’s cool appraisal of the facts reveals that America’s stunning and overwhelming moral response to German and Japanese aggression in the mid and late 1930s, a response that eventually brought a huge portion of the globe within its embrace, was far less a miracle than an inexorable force of nature.
America was a sleeping giant. But the decision to turn the entire force and will of a hard-working, innovative nation to arming for war was not made in the wake of Pearl Harbor. By Pearl Harbor, an alliance of the American government, American industry, and the American military community was already three-fourths of the way up the road to complete preparedness, a journey that was begun in mid-November 1938, only a little late.
Review
Bookviews, May 2009“How America Saved the World by Eric Hammel tells how preparation for war was the reason that, following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, the nation was able to transition quickly to an offensive war. This excellent book tells why America was able to transform itself into what FDR called “the arsenal of democracy,” fielding armies in both the Asian and European theatres, while providing them with countless tanks and ships and guns. America may have been a sleeping giant when it came to the political events unfolding, but the decision to turn the entire force of American industry toward the task of winning World War II had been made long before the initial attack on the homeland. It had, in fact, begun in 1938 as the war clouds threatened. Those who criticize America’s current superpower status would do well to read this book and then wonder if preparing for war isn’t the best way to maintain the peace.”
Review
Book News, May 2009“Hammel, a noted military historian and author, analyzes the military build-up in the United States just prior to World War II and notes how this strategy was "deliberate, orderly and integrated." Written for history buffs and general readers, this volume characterizes the US as a "sleeping giant" after the end of World War I as a new shift toward an expanded military-industrial complex was implemented, creating an "Arsenal of Democracy" that would ultimately decide the outcome of World War II. Appendices include a list of the armies, corps, regiments and divisions in the Army and Navy as well as a list of major naval and aircraft hardware.”
Synopsis
In 1932, less than fifteen years after proving itself a world power in the Great War, the United States could muster its entire active duty army in Chicago’s Soldier Field with room to spare. And yet, within months of the December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States had once again emerged as the mightiest--and best armed--fighting force in the world. However remarkable it seems, this unprecedented turnaround was not the miracle many have declared it to be. In this book acclaimed military historian Eric Hammel uncovers the facts behind this powerful re-awakening to finally give a full account of how America so suddenly and “miraculously” became World War II’s “Arsenal of Democracy.”
The story begins with decline of the American military after World War I. Hammel then turns his focus to a pivotal “aircraft meeting” of November 1938. Here we see how the decision to put the nation’s prodigious resources into rearming was in fact made well before Pearl Harbor. How America Saved the World documents the workings of the remarkable alliance of government, industry, and military community behind the United State’s orderly transformation into an invincible military power. The result is the first detailed picture of a vast human endeavor, conceived and overseen by the best minds in the nation--an accomplishment unparalleled in the conduct of war.
Synopsis
In 1932, less than fifteen years after proving itself a world power in the Great War, the United States could muster its entire active duty army in Chicago's Soldier Field with room to spare. And yet, within months of the December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States had once again emerged as the mightiest--and best armed--fighting force in the world. However remarkable it seems, this unprecedented turnaround was not the miracle many have declared it to be. In this book acclaimed military historian Eric Hammel uncovers the facts behind this powerful re-awakening to finally give a full account of how America so suddenly and "miraculously" became World War II's "Arsenal of Democracy."
The story begins with decline of the American military after World War I. Hammel then turns his focus to a pivotal "aircraft meeting" of November 1938. Here we see how the decision to put the nation's prodigious resources into rearming was in fact made well before Pearl Harbor.
How America Saved the World documents the workings of the remarkable alliance of government, industry, and military community behind the United State's orderly transformation into an invincible military power. The result is the first detailed picture of a vast human endeavor, conceived and overseen by the best minds in the nation--an accomplishment unparalleled in the conduct of war.
Synopsis
The first full account of how the “sleeping” U.S. transformed itself into the “Arsenal of Democracy” before the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Synopsis
Contrary to popular myth, the ascension of the United States to the preeminent role in World War II was deliberate, orderly, and integrated. Begun in November 1938, it was conceived and overseen by the best minds the nation had in place. It was a human endeavor, so mistakes were made, things didn’t always go right, plans and visions had to be scrapped or transformed along the way. But there is nothing in the conduct of war that has ever run so well, so true, so straight to the heart of victory. Nothing.
Here, for the first time, is an orderly narrative that explains how the United States military bootstrapped itself for victory and, thus, How America Saved the World.
Synopsis
The first full account of how the “sleeping” U.S. transformed itself into the “Arsenal of Democracy” before the attack on Pearl Harbor.
About the Author
Eric Hammel is a critically acclaimed military historian and author of nearly forty narrative and pictorial histories, including Chosin: Heroic Ordeal of the Korean War, Marines in Hue City, and The Root: The Marines in Beirut. He has written many titles on U.S. Marine operations in World War II, such as Pacific Warriors, Iwo Jima, and his U.S. Marines in World War II series—Guadalcanal; New Georgia, Bougainville, and Cape Gloucester; and Tarawa and the Marshalls.