Review by Choice Review
Until this book, Iowa's overall home front experience during WW II had not received sustained historical analysis. Many Iowans were skeptical about entanglement in the developing war in 1939-41, and the state turned Republican in the 1940 presidential election. The skepticism disintegrated after December 7, 1941. Ossian (Des Moines Area Community College) argues that most Iowans came to think of themselves as citizen-soldiers on one or more of four home fronts. On the farm front, farmers sweated and often were wounded or killed in farm accidents as they escalated food production for "the boys." On the production front, laborers male and female collectively competed to win "E awards" for places such as the ordnance plants at Burlington and Ankeny. On the community front, Iowans sold and bought war bonds, collected scrap, and were proud about enlisted families such as the Pattens and the Sullivan brothers. On the kitchen front, Iowa women sought to live up to "Mrs. America" and "pioneer" ideals through cultivating victory gardens and making do with rationed items. This well-conceived, solidly researched, and concisely written history book is not exhaustive, but it is comprehensive. Summing Up: Recommended. General and regional libraries; academic collections for graduate students and faculty. D. F. Anderson Northwestern College (IA)
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
