The Wounded Generation

“[Nasaw] eloquently humanizes the story of an entire generation.” —New York Times Book Review

“The Wounded Generation is a minutely detailed and meticulously documented tour—and an unsparing one—of America’s World War II and its aftermath.” —The Nation

“In The Wounded Generation, the acclaimed social historian takes a scalpel to our collective wistfulness and finds something much more nuanced, messier, and sadder underneath. . . . his scope in subject matter is wide.” —Air Mail

From award-winning and bestselling author David Nasaw, a brilliant re-examination of post-World War II America that looks beyond the victory parades and into the veterans’—and nation’s—unhealed traumas

In its duration, geographical reach, and ferocity, World War II was unprecedented. While the heroism of the men and women who won the war may be well documented, less is known about the hardships veterans endured upon their return home. As historian David Nasaw demonstrates, both the veterans and the nation they returned to had profoundly changed. The Wounded Generation tells the indelible stories of the lasting aftershocks of World War II—from PTSD, rising divorce rates, and alcoholism, to heightened racial tensions and discrimination propagated by the GI Bill—challenging prevailing narratives of triumph and revealing a more complex legacy that radically reshapes our understanding of this era as a bridge to today.

In this richly textured examination, Nasaw presents a nuanced portrait of those who brought the war home with them, including John F. Kennedy, Robert Dole, and Henry Kissinger; J. D. Salinger and Kurt Vonnegut; Harry Belafonte and Jimmy Stewart. Drawing from veterans’ memoirs, oral histories, and government documents, Nasaw illuminates a hidden chapter of American history—one of trauma, resilience, and a country in transition.