About:
Freedom’s Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II by Arthur Herman tells of America’s extraordinary achievement mobilizing industries to make war machines through the eyes of two businessmen. Mr. Herman is a historian writing from the perspective of great men.
- 432 pages
- Publisher : Random House
- Language : English
- ISBN-10 : 1400069645
My rating for Freedom’s Forge – 5
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More books by Arthur Herman*
Thoughts:
This remarkable book tells of American industrial mobilization through the eyes of two remarkable people. William Signius Knudsen, an immigrant who rose to be an automobile magnate, and Henry John Kaiser, a ship builder.
Bill Knudsen was born in Denmark and immigrated to the US in 1900. He worked different jobs, mostly in bicycle manufacturing until he got a job with Ford in 1904, he became the coordinator of mass production. President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Mr. Knudsen director of industrial production for the National Defense Research Committee by asking him to resign from GM, he eventually was appointed as a lieutenant general in charge of production for the War Department.
Henry Kaiser’s biggest project prior to World War II was his company’s participation was in building the Hoover Dam. During the war he built Liberty ships and formed the successful Kaiser Aluminum and Kaiser Steel.
Freedom’s Forge by Arthur Herman is an excellent, readable history of the production of American military matériel. There are a lot of details, but the narrative is so riveting they seamlessly woven through the book.
While the book is mainly concerned with the two “great men”, there is plenty of stories about the hundreds, thousands, or engineers, entrepreneurs, and factory workers who contributed to the immense effort. The production concerned itself with interchangeable parts and mass production, in lieu of artisanal parts – and this was their strength.
This book is full of fantastical facts and is very comprehensive in its storytelling. The production ingenuity which was implemented in time of need created a society where everyone can contribute, which moved equality forward by leaps and bounds.
Buy Freedom’s Forge from Amazon.com*
More books by Arthur Herman*
Zohar — Man of la Book
Disclaimer: I bought this book
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