Second World War atmosphere, feelings, life, its all here., July 7, 2014
By
madlyn fafard (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II (Paperback)
If you always wanted to learn about the Second World War, this is a good start. Told from a number of voices, it touches on segregation, the plight of women who had little exposure to opportunity even if they went to college, the struggle of the working families to put food on the table, whether black or white. How few women got the chance to go to college. How drudging work could be and how much fun dancing and bowling were to lighten the load of the working folks. All of the culture of the time, rises up as families and individuals face the opportunity for a new job in an unknown place , doing something they knew nothing about, working in secrecy , in difficult living conditions, and making the best of it. The whispering and meanness of people, who guessed at secrets, when they did not know what was going on, even in war time, the stand offish attitude toward others....people were less open, less able to comprehend what others might be doing, the struggle for survival was still too close to home.. Its not far from my mind, as I recall the dads and moms in my neighborhood, and I know that my dad made $25.00 a week, supporting a family of 4. Bread was around 5 cents a loaf then..
This story filled in the part about the Germans for me, as the scientists they confined in England, admitted they were no where near the development of the bomb in Germany. Maybe no other country could have done what we did, because the cost of building the bomb was STUPENDOUS, for that day and age....the size of the plants, and the product that was emitted, are all shocking, so little for such effort, who else but the United States, would be able to produce this feat, just as we did with the production of war goods and supplies for our men. The picture of the time is just a start, if you are interested in the 2nd World Was as I am , one of the books I really enjoyed was on how our country mobilized.Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II This book is perfect to follow The Girls of Atomic City.
This story filled in the part about the Germans for me, as the scientists they confined in England, admitted they were no where near the development of the bomb in Germany. Maybe no other country could have done what we did, because the cost of building the bomb was STUPENDOUS, for that day and age....the size of the plants, and the product that was emitted, are all shocking, so little for such effort, who else but the United States, would be able to produce this feat, just as we did with the production of war goods and supplies for our men. The picture of the time is just a start, if you are interested in the 2nd World Was as I am , one of the books I really enjoyed was on how our country mobilized.Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II This book is perfect to follow The Girls of Atomic City.