Images from the Arsenal of Democracy

by Charles K. Hyde

312 Pages

Hardcover
9780814339817
Publication Date: March 2014

$39.99

BUY

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Authors
Praise

A photographic history of the American automobile industry’s World War II defense production.

While researching his previous study, Arsenal of Democracy: The American Automobile Industry in World War II (Wayne State University Press, 2013), award-winning automotive historian Charles K. Hyde discovered the many remarkable photos that were part of the era's historical documentation. In Images from the Arsenal of Democracy, Hyde presents a selection of nearly three hundred of these documentary photos in striking black and white, with brief captions. Taken together, the images create a captivating portrait of this crucial moment in American business, military, and cultural history.

Images from the Arsenal of Democracy spans from 1940 until the end of the war, presenting up-close, rarely seen views of newly built plants and repurposed production lines, a staggering variety of war products and components, and the many workers behind Detroit's wartime production miracles. The human faces that Hyde presents are especially compelling, as photos show the critical role played by previously underused workers—namely women and African Americans. Images from the Arsenal of Democracy is divided into chapters by theme, including "Preparing for War before Pearl Harbor"; "Planning Defense Production after Pearl Harbor"; "Aircraft Engines and Propellers"; "Aircraft Components and Complete Aircraft"; "Tanks and Other Armored Vehicles"; "Jeeps, Trucks, and Amphibious Vehicles"; "Guns, Shells, Bullets, and Other War Goods"; "The New Workers"; and "Celebrating the Production Achievements."

The first comprehensive and detailed history drawn solely from the surviving photographic record of wartime Detroit, Images from the Arsenal of Democracy will be appreciated by automotive historians, World War II scholars, and American history buffs.

Charles K. Hyde is professor emeritus of history at Wayne State University. He is the author of Arsenal of Democracy: The American Automobile Industry in World War II (Wayne State University Press, 2013); Storied Independent Automakers: Nash, Hudson, and American Motors (Wayne State University Press, 2009); The Dodge Brothers: The Men, the Motor Cars, and the Legacy (Wayne State University Press, 2005); and Riding the Roller Coaster: A History of the Chrysler Corporation (Wayne State University Press, 2003).

Images from the Arsenal of Democracy is a fascinating photographic survey of the prodigious contributions of the American automobile industry to the Allied victory in World War II. The images of the industry's productive achievements are deeply impressive, as are those of the men and women who wrought these miracles of production.

~Rudi Volti, Author of Cars and Culture: the Biography of a Technology

The monumental production effort of political and military leaders and laborers—African Americans, whites, women, and little people—is captured here in dramatic photographs that freeze the World War II era in time. The workers use jigs, fixtures, machine tools, and rivet guns to produce essential war materiel and weapons. They make engines, jeeps, trucks, tanks, planes, guns, bombs, and bullets. The book is a visual tour de force, and Hyde's short text and captions concisely explain what the reader is looking at.

~Larry Lankton, Author of Hollowed Ground: Copper Mining and Community Building on Lake Superior, 1840s–1990s (Wayne State University Press, 2010)