Customer Reviews

A Democracy at War: America's Fight at Home and Abroad in World War II

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

"A Democracy at War" is absolutely remarkable. Exceptional breadth and depth - from the military to the geopolitical, from tactics and warfighting to grand strategy, from the human to the technological, from the soldier to the civilian and the statesman, from American democracy to foreign dictatorships. Spellbinding and absorbing. No wonder Stephen E. Ambrose calls it "the best single volume on the American experience in World War II that I have read." That is also my reaction.

This was a worthwhile book for those trying to understand the politics, economics, and organization going on behind the war effort. However, O'Neill often makes the cardinal sin of historians and forgets the context of the moment when passing judgement on decisions and strategy by both Rooesevelt and his military leaders. His assessment of Iwo Jima as being unworthy of the effort expended to capture it overlooks the fact that, at the time, the U.S. didn't know the war was going to end so soon. Should be read in conjunction with David Brinkley's "Washington Goes to War."

Objectivity, or a shot at it, is, admittedly, not something one should always expect to find in a historical work, especially if it is aimed at a broad audience. But if a book is opinionated, it should at least be an fun read. O'Neil's volume fails on both counts - it is blatantly subjective and painfully boring, in addition to being rambly. The author includes a lot of detail where a brief summary would surfice, and brushes over important issues, leaving a reader with pages of generalities. The chapter on minority discrimination, for exapmle, is perfunctory, and shot through with anachronic assumptions, providing little insight into the issue beyond the (selective) listing of facts. The technicalities of descriptions of military operations will quickly put you to sleep. Frustrating reading!

I had to read this book for my course on twentieth-century American history (which was taught by the author). I will admit that the book reads like one of his lectures, where it is up to the reader to discern his main points. However, O'Neill does try to touch base with the various aspects of the war effort, from the men in the trenches to the millions at home who took up factory jobs to keep America moving. That in itself is a daunting task, and O'Neill does it quite well. This book is a must for anyone who is interested in World War II!

A Democracy at war was a brilliant narrative depiction of the American Democracy and its epic struggles to survive durring this trying time in American history. O'Neill is a brilliant author, he is also my college professor, and his knowledge of this subject is unparalled.

After reading this book for my WW2 history class, also taught by Oneill, I am left wondering how such a brilliant lecturer can write such a bad book. The book is a poor read and reminded me of the common fact based stuff i read in high school. Information is plentiful, but to cover the entire war in such a disorganized way doesn't do it justice. In his class we also read "Touched with Fire" and "Nazi Germany and World War 2", which covered the Pacific war and Germany. Time better spent would be reading these two. They are both chronological and much better books in general.

This book A Democracy at War is a very uninteresting book facing WWII. The author is very disorganized in the way he presents his material. It is very unpleasing the way he starts to make a point then lingers off on something very unimportant. Though it does contain historical facts about the war, you are just better off reading a thesaurus because it has the same facts without dealing with the war but without the pointless dribble and is more historically relevant to the war. Not unless you are forced to read this book, I recommand anything else!

This is a terrific book--well written, entertaining, enlightening, informative, thought provoking and fun to read. It is a must read for all Americans.

True WW II buffs (NOT mediocre history students!) will welcome this masterful recounting of the war and all its implications esp. on the home front. O'Neill's vivid descriptions of everyday life during the war rival the narratives of the finest of popular historians--Bruce Catton, Frederick Lewis Allen, David McCullough.
An insightful, colorful, skillfully written book which students, if they knew anything about history or the writing of history, would appreciate more respectfully!

Really quite horrid. O'Neill's writing style is DULL DULL DULL! To start with one wishes that O'Neill (like most other writers covering World War II) would treat the American soldiers who fought the war with a little more realism, rather than giving a one-dimensional hagiography of "citizen-soldier/heroes." This hero-worship severly inhibits a balanced historical analysis of World War II and the men who fought it. Ambrose is another semi-scholarly writer who's work suffers from this same problem. Furthermore, O'Neill commits several historical blunders. He attempts to play the role of the armchair strategist. This is a common fault among historians researching World War II. History should concentrate on what happened, and why it happened, not what should or could have happened. Perhaps O'Neill feels that he would have done a better job in handling the war than Roosevelt or Churchill? Finally, a critical fault for an introductory treatment meant to be used in this World War II class at Rutgers, Democracy at War is far too opinionated, specifically concerning O'Neill's treatment of the bombing campaigns over Germany and the use of atomic weapons in Japan. There is intense scholarly debate over these issues and O'Neill's failure to present a balances perspective on this debate to the non-scholarly readers who make up his audience is irresponsible.