Washington Goes To War [Paperback]

David Brinkley (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (1989)
• ISBN-10: 0345359798
• ISBN-13: 978-0345359797
• ASIN: B000NXRXUY
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,220,730 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent on the merits, January 13, 2003

By 

HeyJudy "heyjudy" (East Hampton, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Washington Goes to War: The Extraordinary Story of the Transformation of a City and a Nation (Audio Cassette)

By sheer coincidence, I read Ben Bradlee's memoir, A GOOD LIFE, Andy Rooney's MY WAR and David Brinkley's WASHINGTON GOES TO WAR in immediate succession.

Each of these books covers a different aspect of America's involvement in World War II. Taken as a grouping, these three may be the definitive report of the social history of the moment, as impacted by that War. Obviously, Tom Brokaw's book of individual reminiscences, THE GREATEST GENERATION, must be included with this list as well.

In common with all of these others, David Brinkley, too, is an excellent writer who makes history lively and interesting. As with each of the other books mentioned in this group, WASHINGTON GOES TO WAR can stand alone on its own merits. Yet each of these books gains synergistically by being read in tandem with the others.

This was a fascinating moment in modern history, and David Brinkley tells tales that most readers would have no other way of learning.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, Brinkley is great at taking you back, April 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Washington Goes to War (Mass Market Paperback)

I am only 17 years old but when I was reading this book I felt like I really knew the world that Brinkley was talking about. Ashley in DC

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars How Washington, D.C. became WASHINGTON, DC, April 17, 2001

By 

Wayne A. Smith (Newark, DE) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Washington Goes to War (Mass Market Paperback)

In 1940 Washington, DC was a town that hosted our national government. By the end of 1945 it was a city and the central focus of a government that managed the sixteen million men and women in uniform who fought the Second World War and the other millions who supported the effort at home.

This required office space, housing, entertainment and above all people, people, people. More people than anyone imagined could be supported in our ten mile square federal district.

David Brinkley saw the transformation first hand. People and buildings could literally not be deployed fast enough in our nation's capitol city to keep up with the demands of World War. The effort to accomodate this change is an interesting story told well by the author. The pace and magnitude of change is fascinating to behold. One wonders how the bureaucracy that took a 250,000 man fighting force from wooden training rifles to the millions who had 50,000 aircraft alone to deploy against our enemies were able to undertake this phenominal expansion in reasonably good order. As Brinkley tells it, it was part good old American "can-do" attitude coupled with a near unanimous belief in our mission and dedication to winning the war.

Somehow the City, and the people responsible for running its only true industry (government) managed the task and its transformation fairly well.

Brinkley is a good story teller, and his chronicle of how Washington changed during the war years is also the story of America coming of age. He brings a fresh descriptive narrative to what turns out to be a pretty interesting story.