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    Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II
    Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II
    Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II
    Audiobook16 hours

    Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II

    Written by Arthur Herman

    Narrated by John McDonough

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    New York Times best-selling author and Pulitzer Prize finalist Arthur Herman pens this fascinating look at how two businessmen turned the U.S. into a military powerhouse during World War II. In 1940, FDR asked General Motors CEO William Knudsen to oversee the production of guns, tanks, and planes needed for the war. Meanwhile, industrialist Henry J. Kaiser presided over the building of "Liberty ships"-vessels that came to symbolize America's great wartime output.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateSep 7, 2012
    ISBN9781464048449
    Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II
    Author

    Arthur Herman

    ARTHUR HERMAN is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and the author of nine books, including the New York Times bestseller How the Scots Invented the Modern World and Gandhi and Churchill, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He lives in Washington, DC.  

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    Reviews for Freedom's Forge

    4/5

    56 ratings5 reviews

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    • 5/5
      One of the best books about the military industrial complex. The author points out the human toll on America's workers in support of the War effort. An untold story that should be studied and thought about from a perspective of today's COVID pandemic and how America is preparing for future Cyber and Bio threats.
    • 5/5
      A comprehensive overview of the ramp up of industrialization in the USA from a sleeping peace time economy to a roaring war time behemoth. Yes, it glorifies capitalism and industry at the expense of unions and government. However, the individual American worker is not given short shrift and often is made heroic.

      It was heroic for the entire business enterprise, from the manufacturer of the smallest bolt and nut to the worker assembling B-29 bombers on a frigid Kansas plain. From the assembly line to the financier, all of America joined in in what was a most fascinating, vital time for the United States. If you want to understand how America became a "superpower", Freedom's Forge is a good place to start.
    • 4/5
      Strongly biased towards a business perspective, particularly in his peroration. Still, a very compelling story about how American manufacturers ramped up to equip and support the US and its allies during WW2. Some of the statistics are dubious but the role of Bill Knudsen and Henry Kaiser in a powerful call to action that changed manufacturing for then and the future. The aura of the New Deal and the friction of a burgeoning union were only two of the serious obstacles that perseverated until the end of the war.
    • 4/5
      Well written and interesting bit of history that surely has not received more attention, at least for popular audiences. It seems WWII is a nearly endless source of stories worth telling. Recommend this highly.
    • 4/5
      A compelling story of how American industry mobilized during the war to produce gargantuan amounts of war materiel. Knudsen and Henry Kaiser were amazing titans of industry that made it all happen. Too many details, like I many planes they produced an hour, how many ships, rifles etc. I got the point and didn't need so many details but the books is worth a detour.It 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.