Synopses & Reviews
Paul Kennedy, award-winning author of
The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers and one of today’s most renowned historians, now provides a new and unique look at how World War II was won.
Engineers of Victory is a fascinating nuts-and-bolts account of the strategic factors that led to Allied victory. Kennedy reveals how the leaders’ grand strategy was carried out by the ordinary soldiers, scientists, engineers, and businessmen responsible for realizing their commanders’ visions of success.
In January 1943, FDR and Churchill convened in Casablanca and established the Allied objectives for the war: to defeat the Nazi blitzkrieg; to control the Atlantic sea lanes and the air over western and central Europe; to take the fight to the European mainland; and to end Japan’s imperialism. Astonishingly, a little over a year later, these ambitious goals had nearly all been accomplished. With riveting, tactical detail, Engineers of Victory reveals how.
Kennedy recounts the inside stories of the invention of the cavity magnetron, a miniature radar “as small as a soup plate,” and the Hedgehog, a multi-headed grenade launcher that allowed the Allies to overcome the threat to their convoys crossing the Atlantic; the critical decision by engineers to install a super-charged Rolls-Royce engine in the P-51 Mustang, creating a fighter plane more powerful than the Luftwaffe’s; and the innovative use of pontoon bridges (made from rafts strung together) to help Russian troops cross rivers and elude the Nazi blitzkrieg. He takes readers behind the scenes, unveiling exactly how thousands of individual Allied planes and fighting ships were choreographed to collectively pull off the invasion of Normandy, and illuminating how crew chiefs perfected the high-flying and inaccessible B-29 Superfortress that would drop the atomic bombs on Japan.
The story of World War II is often told as a grand narrative, as if it were fought by supermen or decided by fate. Here Kennedy uncovers the real heroes of the war, highlighting for the first time the creative strategies, tactics, and organizational decisions that made the lofty Allied objectives into a successful reality. In an even more significant way, Engineers of Victory has another claim to our attention, for it restores “the middle level of war” to its rightful place in history.
Review
andquot;A.J. Baimeandrsquo;s prose is an amazing magic lantern shining through the flawed, frustrating and mesmerizing lives of an epic cast of characters; FDR; the anti-semitic Henry Ford; his gargoyle of a henchman Harry Bennett; the workers who would become Americaandrsquo;s middle class; and, as well, Henryandrsquo;s tragic son, Edsel, who lost his health and, ultimately, his life, trying to make good on his promise to deliver a andquot;bomber an hourandquot; during WWII. This is captivating history told at its most intimate level of detail; at the same time, Baimeandrsquo;s scope is grand and humane, even when he is bringing to life the most inhumane of people or moments. An engrossing, highly researched page-turner.andquot;
andmdash;Doug Stanton, author of In Harmandrsquo;s Way and Horse Soldiers
andquot;When you talk the history of Detroit, itand#39;s usually the stuff about beavers, the Model T, the and#39;57 Chevy, the and#39;67 riots and bankruptcy. But what A.J. Baime has done with a precise and entertaining pen is resurrect Detroitand#39;s most important era - WWII - and the obscure and tortured man who may have saved the world.andquot;
andmdash;Charlie LeDuff, author of Detroit: An American Autopsy
andquot;Wars are fought on many fronts, and A.J. Baime chronicles this little known, but terrifically important battle to build Americaand#39;s bomber force with narrative zest and delicious detail. Put simply, itand#39;s a great read.andquot;
andmdash;Neal Bascomb, bestselling author of Hunting Eichmann and The Perfect Mile
andquot;Fast-moving and rich with detail, Baimeand#39;s book shows how the Fords worked a World War II miracle with rivets and steel. Engrossing.andquot;
andmdash;Stephan Talty, author of Agent Garbo and Empire of Blue Water
andquot;A.J. Baime has a great way of telling a story. We didnand#39;t just win World War II because we had the best soldiers.We did it because we could build airplanes literally faster than the Germans could shoot them down. An exciting read.andquot;
andmdash;Jay Leno
andldquo;[Edsel Ford] has deserved a better legacy, and A.J. Baime has given it to him . . . The Arsenal of Democracyand#160; is a touching and absorbing portrait of one of the forgotten heroes of World War II . . . A.J. Baime has given us a memorable portrait not just of an industry going to war but of a remarkable figure who helped to make victory possible.andrdquo;
andmdash;Wall Street Journal
andquot;Accessible, surprising history . . . Forthright and absorbing.andquot;
andmdash;Publishers Weekly
andquot;A.J. Baime has a gift for taking stories about cars and turning them into epic tales of man and his machine versus other man and his machineandhellip; The Arsenal of Democracy shows how capitalism and the American spirit really won WWII. Youandrsquo;ll never look at Detroit or our flag the same again.andquot;
andmdash;Inked
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Synopsis
The story of the dramatic transformation of Detroit from "motortown" to the "arsenal of democracy," featuring Edsel Ford, who rebelled against his pacifist father, Henry Ford, to build the industrial miracle Willow Run, a manufacturing complex capable ofand#160;producing B-24 Liberator bombers at a rate of one per hourand#8212;a crucial component in winning the war.
Synopsis
A New York Times BestsellerA dramatic, intimate narrative of how Ford Motor Company went from making automobiles to producing the airplanes that would mean the difference between winning and losing World War II. and#160; In 1941, as Hitlerand#8217;s threat loomed ever larger, President Roosevelt realized he needed weaponry to fight the Nazisand#8212;most important, airplanesand#8212;and he needed them fast. So he turned to Detroit and the auto industry for help.
The Arsenal of Democracy tells the incredible story of how Detroit answered the call, centering on Henry Ford and his tortured son Edsel, who, when asked if they could deliver 50,000 airplanes, made an outrageous claim: Ford Motor Company would erect a plant that could yield a and#8220;bomber an hour.and#8221; Critics scoffed: Ford didnand#8217;t make planes; they made simple, affordable cars. But bucking his fatherand#8217;s resistance, Edsel charged ahead.and#160;Ford would apply assembly-line production to the American militaryand#8217;s largest, fastest, most destructive bomber; they would build a plant vast in size and ambition on a plot of farmland and call it Willow Run; they would bring in tens of thousands of workers from across the country, transforming Detroit, almost overnight, from Motor City to the and#8220;great arsenal of democracy.and#8221; And eventually they would help the Allies win the war.
Drawing on exhaustive research from the Ford Archives, the National Archives, and the FDR Library, A. J. Baime has crafted an enthralling, character-driven narrative of American innovation that has never been fully told, leaving readers with a vivid new portrait of Americaand#8212;and Detroitand#8212;during the war.
About the Author
Paul Kennedy is internationally known for his writings and commentaries on global political, economic, and strategic issues. He earned his B.S. at Newcastle University and his doctorate at the University of Oxford. He is a former Fellow of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University and the Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung Foundation, Bonn. He is on the editorial board of numerous scholarly journals and writes for The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Atlantic, and many foreign-language newspapers and magazines. Kennedy is the author and editor of nineteen books, including The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, which has been translated into more than twenty languages, and Preparing for the Twenty-first Century. He helped draft a report for an international commission on “The United Nations in Its Second Half-Century,” which was prepared for the fiftieth anniversary UN debate on how to improve the world organization.
Table of Contents
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;
Introductionand#8195;xi
and#160; and#160; Prologueand#8195;xiii
PART I. The Motor City
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;1.and#160;Henryand#8195;3
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;2.and#160;The Machine Is the New Messiahand#8195;9
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;3.and#160;Edseland#8195;16
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;4.and#160;Learning to Flyand#8195;23
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;5.and#160;Father vs. Sonand#8195;31
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;6.and#160;The Ford Terrorand#8195;39
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;7.and#160;The Nazi Connectionand#8195;50
PART II. The Liberator
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;8.and#160;Fifty Thousand Airplanesand#8195;65
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;9.and#160;and#8220;Gentlemen, We Must Outbuild Hitlerand#8221;and#8195;75
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;10.and#160;The Liberatorand#8195;86
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;11.and#160;Willow Runand#8195;99
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;12.and#160;Awakeningand#8195;106
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;13.and#160;Strike!and#8195;115
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;14.and#160;Air Raid!and#8195;122
PART III. The Big One
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;15.and#160;The Grim Raceand#8195;129
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;16.and#160;and#8220;Detroitand#8217;s Worries Are Right Nowand#8221;and#8195;141
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;17.and#160;Will It Run?and#8195;150
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;18.and#160;Bomber Ship 01and#8195;160
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;19.and#160;Roosevelt Visits Willow Runand#8195;167
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;20.and#160;A Dying Manand#8195;175
PART IV. The Rise of American Airpower
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;21.and#160;Unconditional Surrenderand#8195;185
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;22.and#160;Taking Flightand#8195;195
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;23.and#160;and#8220;The Arsenal of Democracy Is Making Goodand#8221;and#8195;206
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;24.and#160;Death in Dearbornand#8195;215
PART V. The Battle of Dearborn
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;25.and#160;Operation Tidal Waveand#8195;229
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;26.and#160;The Detroit Race Riot of 1943and#8195;239
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;27.and#160;and#8220;The United States Is the Country of Machinesand#8221;and#8195;250
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;28.and#160;Ford War Production Exceeds Dreamsand#8195;258
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;29.and#160;D-Dayand#8195;269
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;30.and#160;The Final Battleand#8195;278 and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;Epilogueand#8195;285
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;A Note on the Text and Acknolwedgmentsand#8195;293
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;Notesand#8195;297
and#160;and#160;and#160;and#160;Indexand#8195;343