Synopses & Reviews
The exciting history of a small group of British and American scientists who, during World War II, developed the new field of operational research to turn back the tide of German submarines—revolutionizing the way wars are waged and won.
In March 1941, after a year of unbroken and devastating U-boat onslaughts, the British War Cabinet decided to try a new strategy in the foundering naval campaign. To do so, they hired an intensely private, bohemian physicist who was also an ardent socialist. Patrick Blackett was a former navy officer and future winner of the Nobel Prize; he is little remembered today, but he and his fellow scientists did as much to win the war against Nazi Germany as almost anyone else. As director of the World War II antisubmarine effort, Blackett used little more than simple mathematics and probability theory—and a steadfast belief in the utility of science—to save the campaign against the U-boat. Employing these insights in unconventional ways, from the washing of mess hall dishes to the color of bomber wings, the Allies went on to win essential victories against Hitler’s Germany.
Here is the story of these civilian intellectuals who helped to change the nature of twentieth-century warfare. Throughout, Stephen Budiansky describes how scientists became intimately involved with what had once been the distinct province of military commanders—convincing disbelieving military brass to trust the solutions suggested by their analysis. Budiansky shows that these men above all retained the belief that operational research, and a scientific mentality, could change the world. It’s a belief that has come to fruition with the spread of their tenets to the business and military worlds, and it started in the Battle of the Atlantic, in an attempt to outfight the Germans, but most of all to outwit them.
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 exciting, little-known story of the small group of British and American scientists who, during the years of 1941 to 1943 and almost entirely without military experience, revolutionized the way wars are waged and won.Here are the civilian intellectuals -- the kind that many military men viewed with contempt--who helped to change the nature of twentieth-century warfare. Foremost among them was Patrick Blackett, British physicist, ex-naval officer, future Nobel winner, ardent socialist, who, though little remembered today, did more to win the war against Nazi Germany than almost anyone else. Budiansky makes clear how, as director of the World War II anti-submarine effort for Britain's air force and navy, Blackett founded a new science of operational research. We see how, using little more than simple mathematics and probability theory--and a steadfast belief in the utility of science--Blackett and his colleagues demonstrated to disbelieving military brass ways in which they could save the faltering campaign against the U-boat. Employing their unconventional insights, the Allies went on to win essential victories against Hitler's Germany, in one of the great untold stories of the Second World War.
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
A. J. BAIME is the author of Go Like Hell: Ford, Ferrari, and their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans (currently in development for a major motion picture by 20th Century Fox). He is a regular contributor to the Wall Street Journal and an editor-at-large at Playboy.
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