Summary

Before this book, general readers who wanted a compact but comprehensive history of American military action in World War II had nowhere to turn. Now, in this concise, lucid, and balanced account, D. Clayton James and Anne Sharp Wells provide the first one volume history of the U.S. armed forces in the war. Examining the strategy, logistics, high command, operations, and home-front aspects of the military campaign, they narrate the story .in slightly more than 200 pages, with a clarity and perspective that virtually any reader will appreciate. In addition to describing the major operations and battles, and analyzing strategy and tactics, From Pearl Harbor to V-J Day contains crisp portraits of major military leaders and a background of political, diplomatic, economic, and social developments in the warring nations. Also receiving attention are the role of women and minorities in the military; the relation of armed forces personnel to the American home front; the impact of technology; and the breakthroughs of communications intelligence. In a final chapter the authors consider the consequences of the war for American society and suggest that romanticized views of the conflict should finally be laid to rest.