The Darkest Year: The American Homefront, 1941–1942

A narrative history of the American home front during World War Two, covering the twelve months following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor through 1942. For Americans during this period, these months represented the darkest year of the war. Despite government efforts to minimize reports of American losses, the nation had experienced a series of military setbacks in the Pacific. By autumn 1942, government officials were openly discussing the possibility that the United States might lose the war. While public appeals for unity suggested that long-standing class tensions and partisan divisions had disappeared, American society was actually becoming increasingly fractured. Competing interest groups sought to exploit the wartime emergency for their own purposes, and missteps by the Roosevelt administration intensified widespread anxiety and uncertainty. Klingaman examines Americans' state of mind through both their statements and their everyday behavior. The book explores the social and cultural transformations brought about by war, including changes in family structures, race relations, economic activity, popular entertainment, education, and the arts.