1942
The Year That Tried Men's Souls
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4.5 • 88 Ratings
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- $2.99
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- $2.99
Publisher Description
America’s first year in World War II, chronicled in this “page-turner” by the Pulitzer Prize–nominated author of Forrest Gump and The Generals (Publishers Weekly).
On December 7, 1941, an unexpected attack on American territory pulled an unprepared country into a terrifying new brand of warfare. To the generation of Americans who lived through it, the Second World War was the defining event of the twentieth century, and the defining moments of that war were played out in the year 1942.
This account covers the Allies’ relentless defeats as the Axis overran most of Europe, North Africa, and the Far East. But by midyear the tide began to turn. The United States finally went on the offensive in the Pacific. In the West, the British defeated Rommel’s panzer divisions at El Alamein while the US Army began to push the Germans out of North Africa. By the year’s end, the smell of victory was in the air.
1942, told with Winston Groom’s accomplished storyteller’s eye, allows us into the admirals’ strategy rooms, onto the battlefronts, and into the heart of a nation at war.
“When not drawing in readers with the narrative, Groom is impressing them with his masterful analyses.” —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“Groom has done an artful job of blending the many stories of 1942.” —The Anniston Star
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Forrest Gump novelist Groom offers another of his nonfiction labors of love, centering his story of a pivotal year on the war against Japan. No revisionist, Groom delivers the traditional worshipful portrait of General MacArthur while admitting he made several key blunders that doomed the Philippines in the year's early months. In May the two fleets met in the Coral Sea. While the Japanese came out ahead, they abandoned their invasion of New Guinea, and Groom follows the standard account of calling it an American victory. He adds that brains and luck win more battles than courage, providing a perfect illustration in Midway, fought in June 1942. Having broken Japan's naval code, American forces surprised a vastly superior Japanese fleet and sank all four of its carriers. In August, the First Marine Division was deposited on an obscure island, Guadalcanal, then hastily retreated. For the next four months, in what is the book's highlight, the marines fought with epic heroism against repeated efforts to expel them. Almost as an afterthought, Groom shows American forces taking their first step against Germany, landing in North Africa in November and quickly bogging down. Heroism was not in short supply, but much of it occurred in 1943. A talented writer, Groom has written a page-turner; readers needing an introduction will love it.
