ABSTRACT

Myth and the Greatest Generation calls into question the glowing paradigm of the World War II generation set up by such books as The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw.

Including analysis of news reports, memoirs, novels, films and other cultural artefacts Ken Rose shows the war was much more disruptive to the lives of Americans in the military and on the home front during World War II than is generally acknowledged. Issues of racial, labor unrest, juvenile delinquency, and marital infidelity were rampant, and the black market flourished.

This book delves into both personal and national issues, calling into questions the dominant view of World War II as ‘The Good War’.

chapter |7 pages

Introduction

part I|69 pages

Americans Abroad

chapter 2|16 pages

Combat Remembered

chapter 3|17 pages

Why We Fight

part II|81 pages

Americans at Home

chapter 4|24 pages

Gearing Up for War

chapter 5|24 pages

The Home Front and Its Discontents

chapter 6|31 pages

Life at the Margins

part III|44 pages

Americans and the Culture of World War II

chapter 7|21 pages

Popular Culture

chapter 8|20 pages

The Literature of War

part IV|46 pages

Americans and the End of the War

chapter 10|26 pages

Going Home