The year of peril America in 1942

The Year of Peril challenges a hallowed narrative about the American experience during WW II. Campbell (Univ. of Kentucky) takes a deep dive into often ignored primary and secondary sources to make the case that serious fissures in public policy continued to surface and at times threaten Franklin D. Roosevelt's wartime stewardship. Fresh insights offered in this sensible, albeit at times choppy, narrative include Campbell's emphasis on Americans' ongoing anxieties about potential attacks on the homeland, widespread frustration with the Roosevelt administration's policies to curb inflation, and impatience with the pace of American military offensives against the Axis powers. A major virtue of this work is its perspective. Campbell tells the tale of 1942 through the perceptions of those who lived it: government officials, journalists, average Americans. No comparable work so well captures the sense of peril Americans felt during much of 1942. Yet, even as Americans worried about a perceived lack of military progress, many complained bitterly about government-imposed rationing and other intrusions on their freedoms. The Year of Peril effectively challenges "greatest generation" clichés and offers a more realistic view of what Americans were like during this period. Summing Up: Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty. --Michael J. Birkner, Gettysburg College