- Hardcover
- Publisher: Random House Value Publishing (April 12 1999)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0517382113
- ISBN-13: 978-0517382110
- Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 15.7 x 3.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 658 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
This book of the just-retired newsman's reminiscences of Washington at the dawn of America's involvement in World War II is no mere historical curiosity shop. It's very instructive about the way Washington still works. For instance, Brinkley tells us that in September 1941, while FDR was still wavering about where to put the military's new headquarters building, an Army general told the contractor to get started. By the time Roosevelt found out about this a month later, the foundations for the Pentagon had already been put in place.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
The city "boasted" 15,000 privies; you could walk through the White House gate without being questioned; the Army chief of staff, early in the war, at least, sent a handwritten note to the family of every serviceman killed in battle. Things were quite different in the WW II capital, and Brinkley (a radio reporter in Washington at the time) reveals the tempo of the town in a series of vivid character sketches and anecdotes connected by commentary both illuminating and entertaining. Among the wide variety of subjects dealt with: the bulging civilian and military bureaucracies; the housing crisis in a city "crowded to suffocation"; the pressures on black Washingtonians; the frivolousness of the town's high society (President Roosevelt publicly called them parasites); the effect on the citizenry of hordes of thrill-seeking servicemen in a city without much entertainment to offer them; the emotional wranglings of the wartime Congress; the thorny yet genial relationship between FDR and the press. This is a valuable record of a town and government coping with global responsibilities for which it was ill prepared. Photos. 175,000 first printing; BOMC main selection.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Read,
By
This review is from: WASHINGTON GOES TO WAR (Hardcover)
This is one fun book. Brinkley is able to re-create how Washington DC went from a sleepy village to the thriving community it is now. Read how those crummy government buildings were only supposed to be temporary. How those girls came for work from the farms, bought leg makeup, and stayed. How the Japanese and German ambassadors were placed under guard in a mansion and still couldn't get along. Recommended to anyone who has an interest in the homefront during WWII.
4.0 out of 5 stars
How Washington, D.C. became WASHINGTON, DC,
By
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.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fascinating,
By A Customer
This review is from: Washington Goes to War (Mass Market Paperback)
I found this book very interesting. As someone who is currently living in the D.C area, I was fascinated to travel back in time while reading this book and picture how D.C. has become what it is today. There is much to learn in this book especially about Roosevelt's presidency and the turmoil around the war and it is presented in a very fun, easy to read style. I recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn about the development of our nation's capitol.
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