“A compulsively readable tribute to ‘the miracle of mass production.”
Freedom’s Forge reveals how two extraordinary American businessmen—General Motors automobile magnate William “Big Bill” Knudsen and shipbuilder Henry J. Kaiser—helped corral, cajole, and inspire business leaders across the country to mobilize the “arsenal of democracy” that propelled the Allies to victory in World War II. Drafting top talent from companies like Chrysler, Republic Steel, Boeing, Lockheed, GE, and Frigidaire, Knudsen and Kaiser turned auto plants into aircraft factories and civilian assembly lines into fountains of munitions. In four short years they transformed America’s army from a hollow shell into a truly global force, laying the foundations for the country’s rise as an economic as well as military superpower. Freedom’s Forge vividly re-creates American industry’s finest hour, when the nation’s business elites put aside their pursuit of profits and set about saving the world.
“A compulsively readable tribute to ‘the miracle of mass production.”
Publisher’s Weekly
“Freedom’s Forge is the story of how the ingenuity and energy of the American private sector was turned loose to equip the finest military force on the face of the earth. In an era of gathering threats and shrinking defense budgets, it is a timely lesson told by one of the great historians of our time.”
Donald Rumsfeld
“Magnificent . . . It’s not often that a historian comes up with a fresh approach to an absolutely critical element of the Allied victory in World War II, but Pulitzer finalist Herman . . . has done just that.”
Kirkus Reviews
“A rarely told industrial saga, rich with particulars of the growing pains and eventual triumphs of American industry . . . Arthur Herman has set out to right an injustice: the loss, down history’s memory hole, of the epic achievements of American business in helping the United States and its allies win World War II.”
The New York Times Book Review
During World War II, the private sector rapidly mobilized to transform the U.S. into a wartime manufacturing powerhouse, certifying an allied victory and cementing the U.S.’s global leadership. In the years to follow, public-private cooperation in defense would become the gold standard, opening up an evolving defense-industrial base that would
Arthur Herman, senior research fellow at the Civitas Institute, addresses the Civitas Institute’s second annual Austin Symposium on Economic Dynamism.
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Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy could emulate the ‘dollar-a-year men,’ who built the greatest military production machine the world has... Read More
Has the Pax Americana truly fallen? Can America’s dominance be restored? What can be learned from the World War II... Read More
American historian and author Arthur Herman joins Michael this week for a discussion on his new book The Viking Heart,... Read More
This week, Michael is joined by historian Arthur Herman (Gandhi and Churchill: The Epic Rivalry that Destroyed an Empire and... Read More
Arthur Herman on why FDR turned to private businessmen to fight and win World War II. Photo: Getty Images https://www.wsj.com/video/opinion-how-private-entrepreneurs-won-wwii/377C6FB8-3575-4152-8BF8-BBCE96CE75ED
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