World War II was won by brave fighting men in the Pacific, Africa, Europe, on the land, on the seas and in the air. They were able to accomplish those great victories because of the fierce, fighting men and women on the home front who provided the guns, ammunition, tanks, planes, ships, food, medical and all other supplies necessary to keep a fighting force with what they needed to beat the enemy. This is a novel about how some of that could have come about.

It's December 1941. The United States has just entered World War II. How will you help your country fight for its freedom? Will you: Help keep the country's economy going as a young mother in the work force? Try to fit into society as a wounded African American veteran? Help end prejudice against Japanese citizens as a 12 year old California boy?

Captures the transformation of America during WWII, highlighting daily life, wartime economy, and the profound patriotism that united the nation. Don’t you know there’s a war on?! Use it up… Wear it out… Make it do… Or do without! Loose Lips Sink Ships! Any Bonds Today? Remember Pearl Harbor! Those were the slogans Americans called out to each other on the home front during WWII. They forged their days surrounded by fellow patriots sharing in the greatest endeavor of their lives: winning the war. The American Home Front in WWII presents the striking story of those times starting with little-known events well before Pearl Harbor – the clashes between isolationists and those favoring intervention and America’s first peacetime draft. The shock of Pearl Harbor transformed America from a peacetime country to a full wartime economy. Factories produced an airplane every sixty-one minutes. Women and Blacks entered the workforce as never before bringing about earthshaking changes. Americans describe in their own words the rigors of everyday life: rationing, air raid drills, rigging up black curtains and scrap drives. But Americans found ways to enjoy themselves- movie attendance swelled with films such as Casablanca while Broadway brought audiences Oklahoma. The music of Glen Miller and the voice of a skinny newcomer named Frank Sinatra had Americans swinging and swooning. The American Home Front in WWII brings this story to life to capture the extraordinary level of patriotism and teamwork on the home front. It truly was a time when there were no strangers.

In this diverse collection of stories derived from interviews, Arkansans who lived through the greatest global conflict of the century share their memories with unaffected candor. From those who fought in the Battle of the Bulge and the invasion of Tarawa to those who labored on the home front, the larger story of World War II emerges, a story full of heroism and tenacity, horror and triumph. The distinct voice of the person interviewed rises from each story in straightforward language that is frequently modest and humble, at times joyful, and often still dismayed at the scope and fury of the war. Through these voices, one can begin to understand how Americans dealt with the immense changes that occurred as their nation emerged from the Great Depression and joined the other Allied forces to win a war of incomparable scale and consequence.

Brings together 1,000 focused biographies of Americans who affected how the United States made, supported, perceived, and protested its major wars from the Revolution to Gulf War II. Inventors and scientists, nurses and physicians, reformers and clerics, civil rights and labor leaders, financiers and economist, artists and musicians have all been soldiers on the home front. Home Front Heroes brings together brief and focused biographies of 1,000 Americans who affected how the United States made, supported, perceived and protested its major war efforts from the Revolution to Gulf War II. Battlefield victories and defeats are in a very real sense the reflection of the society waging war. Inventors and scientists, social reformers and clerics, civil rights and labor leaders, nurses and physicians, actors and directors, financiers and industrialists, economists and psychologists, artists and musicians, writers and journalists, have all been soldiers on the home front. The biographical entries highlighting the subjects' wartime contributions are arranged alphabetically. Many of the entries also include suggestions for further reading. Thematic indexes make it easy to look up people alphabetically by last name and by war, and other indices list entries under broad categories - Arts and Culture; Business, Industry, and Labor; Nursing and Medicine; Science, Engineering and Inventions - with more detailed occupational background. Entries include: Julia Ward Howe, composer of The Battle Hymn of the Republic; Robert Fulton, inventor of the steam engine and architect of the submarine Nautilus; Martin Brander, maker of Eliot's Saddle Ring Carbine; Robert Parker Parrott, inventor of the Parrott cannon; Novelist and War Correspondent Stephen Crane; Founder of the Army Nurse Corps Dr. Anita Newcomb McGee; Composer John Philip Sousa (Stars and Stripes Forever); Louis M. Terman, who invented the IQ test; Reginald Fessenden, developer of a sonic depth finder; machine-gun inventor Benjamin Hotchkiss; Labor leader John L. Lewis; Comedian and USO stalwart Bob Hope; Dr. Ancel Keys developer of the K-ration; napalm inventor Louis F. Fieser; and many more. The work is fully indexed, and contains an extensive bibliography.

What really happened on the Australian home front during the Second World War? For the people of Melbourne these were years of social dislocation and increased government interference in all aspects of daily life. On the Home Front is the story of their work, leisure, relationships and their fears—for by 1942 the city was pitted with air raid trenches, and in the half-light of the brownout Melburnians awaited a Japanese invasion. As women left the home to replace men in factories and offices, the traditional roles of mothers and wives were challenged. The presence of thousands of American soldiers in Melbourne raised new questions about Australian nationalism and identity, and the 'carnival spirit' of many on the home front created anxiety about the issues of drunkenness, gambling and sexuality. Kate Darian-Smith's classic and evocative study of Melbourne in wartime draws upon the memories of men and women who lived through those turbulent years when society grappled with the tensions between a restrictive government and new opportunities for social and sexual freedoms.

A new compendium of firsthand reminiscences of life on the American home front during World War II. America's Home Front Heroes: An Oral History of World War II brings together in one rich resource the voices of those whom history often leaves out—the ordinary men, women, and children caught up in an extraordinary time. America's Home Front Heroes is divided into four sections: A Time for Heightened Passion, A Time for Caution and Prejudice, A Time for Flag Waving, and A Time for War Plant Women. The 34 brief oral histories within these sections capture the full diversity of the United States during the war, with contributions coming from men, women, and children of all backgrounds, including Japanese Americans, conscientious objectors, African Americans, housewives, and journalists. A treasure trove for researchers and World War II enthusiasts, this remarkable volume offers members of "the greatest generation" an opportunity to relive their defining era. For those with no direct experience of the period, it's a chance to learn firsthand what it was like living in the United States at a pivotal moment in history.