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Freedom's Forge by Arthur Herman audiobook

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

By Arthur Herman
Read by John McDonough

Recorded Books, Recorded Books, Inc.
16.97 Hours • Unabridged
Format : CD (In Stock)
  • 2 Formats: CD
  • 2 Formats: MP3 CD

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    ISBN: 9781664410985

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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.

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Summary

Summary

An Economist Best Book of the Year, 2012

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.

Editorial Reviews

Editorial Reviews

“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
“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.” —New York Times Book Review
“A rambunctious book that is itself alive with the animal spirits of the marketplace.” —Wall Street Journal
“The production statistics cited by Mr. Herman…astound.” —Economist
“[A] fantastic book.” —Forbes
“A compulsively readable tribute to ‘the miracle of mass production.’” —Publishers Weekly
“Invaluable insights regarding how government administrators and industry leaders worked together to produce a winning arsenal. Economists and general readers alike will benefit from its historical perspective.” —Library Journal
“A magnificent, controversial reexamination of the role of American business in winning WWII.” —Kirkus Reviews
“World War II could not have been won without the vital support and innovation of American industry. Arthur Herman’s engrossing and superbly researched account of how this came about, and the two men primarily responsible for orchestrating it, is one of the last great, untold stories of the war.” —Carlo D’Este, author of Patton: A Genius for War
“It takes a writer of Arthur Herman’s caliber to make a story essentially based on industrial production exciting, but this book is a truly thrilling story of the contribution made by American business to the destruction of Fascism. With America producing two-thirds of the Allies’ weapons in World War II, the contribution of those who played a vital part in winning the war, yet who never once donned a uniform, has been downplayed or ignored for long enough. Here is their story, with new heroes to admire—such as William Knudsen and Henry Kaiser—who personified the can-do spirit of those stirring times.” —Andrew Roberts, author of The Storm of War

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Author

Author Bio: Arthur Herman

Author Bio: Arthur Herman

Arthur Herman is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and the author of nine books, including How the Scots Invented the Modern World and Gandhi and Churchill, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

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Details

Details

Available Formats : CD, MP3 CD
Runtime: 16.97
Audience: Adult
Language: English

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