American Women and World War II (History of Women in America) [Hardcover]

Doris Weatherford (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

This is a fascinating and immensely readable account of the diverse roles played by women in all aspects of the war--in industry, on the home front, in the military. Relying primarily on published sources, especially in the popular press, the author, a historian and freelance writer, focuses on the war's liberating effect on women. Although aware of the inequities women faced, especially in the military, Weatherford describes how women benefited from their wartime experiences. She is especially sensitive to the experiences of black women. General readers will enjoy the accounts of how working women juggled home, children, and work, and will be amazed at the various ways in which women came to be utilized as resources in the war effort.
- Marie Marmo Mullaney, Caldwell Coll., N.J.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Facts on File (December 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0816020388
• ISBN-13: 978-0816020386
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,247,047 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Editorial and Soap Box Opera Altogether, September 18, 2010

By 

Michael Green "mrclay2000" (OKLAHOMA CITY, OK United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: American Women And World War II (History of Women in America) (Hardcover)

Weatherford starts well but then throws out the pattern from the first chapter and gets worse by the mouthful. She uses a great deal of personal diary entries in the book which general depict a woman's frustration with her role or world and then Weatherford puts herself in the woman's shoes. For almost every "fact" that she delivers, she then adds her own take on the facts and the woman's position. Weatherford pretty soon becomes one of the diarist's angry entries page after page. For example, she repeatedly uses very petulant phrases like "once again," "finally," "sadly," "unfortunately" and the like to beat the dead horse. She also summarizes situations by making apocalyptic judgments on her data or topic, such as (p. 187) "the government ultimately could have saved itself billions of dollars in welfare costs if it had undertaken then to see that women's wages were raised to a reasonable level" and (p. 272) "Like millions of bright women before and after the war who were forced by their husbands' careers into military and college towns too small for their abilities. . ." Almost every woman described in this book gave 110% for thankless endeavors, got a crust of bread at day's end, walked two miles thru snow daily to reach her job, managed every chore under the sun without complaint, and then went to bed feeling tired but proud that she helped the war effort. Almost every man described in this book is a thoughtless bureaucrat unable to match a woman to a perfect role or place, a faithless husband or GI, a chauvinist -- an idiot in short. ONCE AGAIN, Weatherford editorializes every point and exaggerates every conclusion. The book has some merits and opened my eyes to a few things, but by and large this is hardly an objective account, but rather a tiresome tirade on the old theme of how perfect the world would be if women ruled and men silently followed orders.

5 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unsung Heroes, June 1, 2000

By 

James W. Walter Jr. "Epithany" (Vienna, Austria) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: American Women and World War II (History of Women in America) (Hardcover)

A great book on what really happened in WWII. These women lost lives and loves as they fought the Axis and supported our forces. It is well written and chock full of facts.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great book, great condition, January 28, 2010

By 

Margaritta "-m" (St. Louis) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: American Women And World War II (History of Women in America) (Hardcover)

I think this book was as well written as American-Made: The Enduring Legacy of the WPA: When FDR Put the Nation to Work by Nick Taylor. That says a mouthfull. Real page turner.