ERA 8: The Great Depression and World War II (1929–1945)

Essays from This Era

Title sort image Author sort image Issue sort image
FDR’s War of Words with Lindbergh Paul Sparrow Fall 2024
Franklin Roosevelt Takes on Tammany Hall Michael Wolraich Spring 2024
The Mystery of Henry Wallace Derek Leebaert Spring 2024
Eleanor Fights Lynching David Michaelis Summer 2021
Frances Perkins Brought You the Weekend Bruce Watson Spring 2021
Marshall's Secret Preparations for War Paul Dickson September 2020
FDR’s Favorite Dish: “Country Captain” Edwin S. Grosvenor July/August 2020
Missy LeHand: FDR's Influential, but Largely Forgotten Assistant Kathryn Smith Summer 2017
My Memories of Winston Churchill John D. Eisenhower Summer 2017
The Day When We Almost Lost the Army Joseph E. Persico Spring 2012
FDR Declassified The Editors Fall 2010
Churchill Offers Toil and Tears to FDR John Lukacs Spring/Summer 2008
40 More Critical Moments In American Business History John Steele Gordon February/March 2007
The Second-term Blues Kevin Baker August/September 2006
FDR and His Women Ellen Feldman March 2003
The Churchill-Roosevelt Forgeries John Lukacs November/December 2002
The Virtues of Nation-Building Max Boot June/July 2002
Till Divorce Do Us Part Ellen Feldman November 2000
The Conventional Wisdom: Why It’s Wrong Terry Golway July/August 2000
FDR Was Hardly Indifferent to the Shoah William J. Vanden Heuvel July/August 1999
Event In This Century Kevin Baker May/June 1999
Meeting the Japanese Pilot Who Killed My Dad Francis R. Stevens, Jr. December 1998
An Interview with the Author of "The American Century" Kevin Baker September 1998
What Made the Government Become Huge Bernard A. Weisberger September 1997
There Is Something about a Martini Max Rudin July/August 1997
From World War to Cold War John Lukacs December 1995
The Federal Debt John Steele Gordon November 1995
“That Hell-hole of Yours” Donald Wright October 1995
Home-grown Terror Philip Jenkins September 1995
Bringing the President Home April 1995
The Retreat at Kommando 64/VI April 1995
Revising the Twentieth Century John Lukacs September 1994
The Man of the Century Arthur Schlesinger Jr. May/June 1994
The Forty-year Run Roy Hoopes November 1992
Presidents on Presidents Thomas Fleming November 1992
The Pentagon’s 50th and the Future of America’s Defense T. A. Heppenheimer September 1992
Secret Treason Fulton Oursler, Jr. December 1991
The Transatlantic Duel: Hitler vs. Roosevelt John Lukacs December 1991
What to Call It? Elliot Rosenberg December 1991
A Place to Be Lousy In Peter Andrews December 1991
The Road to the Future Dan Cupper May/June 1990
“Yesterday, December 7, 1941…” Richard M. Ketchum November 1989
The Wonderful Husband Geoffrey C. Ward September/October 1989
The New Deal and the Guru J. Samuel Walker March 1989
Why the Candidates Still Use FDR as Their Measure William E. Leuchtenburg February 1988
The Big Leak Thomas Fleming December 1987
How Capitalism Survived The Twentieth Century Martin Mayer November 1987
1937 Fifty Years Ago July/August 1987
FDR The Last Photo July/August 1987
Taking Another Look At The Constitutional Blueprint The Editors May/June 1987
The House At Hyde Park Geoffrey C. Ward April 1987
“A Fair, Honorable, and Legitimate Trade” Frederic Delano Grant, Jr. August/September 1986
The Greatest American Cars Brock Yates February/March 1986
101 Things Every College Graduate Should Know about American History John A. Garraty December 1986
The Case of the Chambermaid and the Nine Old Men William E. Leuchtenburg December 1986
FDR And The Kingfish William E. Leuchtenburg October/november 1985
Why We Didn’t Use Poison Gas in World War II Barton J. Bernstein August/September 1985
FDR’s War with Polio Geoffrey C. Ward June/july 1985
Four More Years October/November 1984
Cantaloupes And Atom Bombs David Brinkley October/November 1984
THE BANKING STORY Martin Mayer April/May 1984
Rosie The Riveter Remembers February/March 1984
Where Have All The Great Men Gone? Richard D. Brown February/March 1984
Radio Grows Up Alice Goldfarb Marquis August/september 1983
“Explaining What You Are After Is The Secret Of Diplomacy” Robert Bendiner August/september 1983
Henry Francis Du Pont And The Invention Of Winterthur Walter Karp April/May 1983
The Great North Sea Mine Barrage Daniel P. Mannix 3d April/May 1983
FDR A Practical Magician John Kenneth Galbraith February/March 1983
Winston Churchill And “the Natural Captain Of The West” Roy Jenkins October/November 1982
America Was Promises Robert Cowley August/September 1982
II. Bats Away! Joe Michael Feist April/May 1982
The FDR Tapes February/March 1982
A Postage Stamp History Of The U.S. In The Twentieth Century Judson Mead December 1982
What If? Marcus Cunliffe December 1982
Barnstorming The U.S. Mail Virginia Van Der Veer Hamilton August 1974
“old Peabo” And The School Frank Kintrea October/November 1980
Incident In Miami Kenneth S. Davis December 1980
Sorry No Gas Stephen W. Sears October/November 1979
What We Got For What We Gave Gaddis Smith April/May 1978
Samuel Eliot Morison Award October 1977
George Washington Carver and the Peanut Barry Mackintosh August 1977
The Controversial World Of Thomas K. Mccraw April 1977
The TVA: It Ain't What It Used to Be James Branscome February 1977
The Way I See It Bruce Catton October 1976
Machismo In The White House Larry L. King August 1976
How Miss Perkins Learned To Lobby George Martin April 1976
His Most Detestable High Mightiness Ormonde De Kay, Jr. April 1976
The Tyranny Of Oil Carl Solberg December 1976
The Strange Mission of the Lanikai Adm Kemp Tolley October 1973
FDR’s Extra Burden Bernard Asbell June 1973
Churchill Talks To America Kenneth McArdle December 1973
A Dearth of Heroes Robert Penn Warren October 1972
A Basement View Of Sir Winston Ogden Kniffin October 1972
Full House At Yalta Adm C. E. Olsen June 1972
Miss Eleanor Roosevelt Kenneth S. Davis October 1971
“Big Jim” Farley: The True-blue Democrat Virginia Van Der Veer Hamilton August 1971
The Paper Trust Bernard A. Weisberger April 1971
The Retreat From Burma Barbara W. Tuchman February 1971
F.D.R: The Last Journey James MacGregor Burns August 1970
The “Diary” of Hiram Johnson Lawrence W. Levine August 1969
The Place of Franklin D. Roosevelt in History Allan Nevins June 1966
The Colonel’s Dream Of Power Robert S. Rifkind February 1959
F.D.R. Vs. The Supreme Court Merlo J. Pusey April 1958
FDR’s War of Words with Lindbergh Paul Sparrow Fall 2024
Martha Gellhorn Gets Her Story on D-Day Marc Lancaster Summer 2024
Honoring the Incredible Sacrifice of the Sullivan Family Edwin S. Grosvenor Winter 2024
The Secret Plans to Invade Japan David Dean Barrett August 2023
Struggling to End the War Richard Overy August 2023
Ernie Pyle Digs in at Anzio David Chrisinger Summer 2023
The Oldest Marine Recruit Shane Manson Spring 2023
Counting All The Dead Richard B. Frank August 2023
Cities Reduced to Ashes David Dean Barrett August 2023
John Hersey Uncovers the Horror Lesley M.M. Blume August 2023
First Shots in the Pacific War Keith Fitzgerald Winter 2023
FDR Unites America for War Peter Shinkle November/December 2022
Bob Dole and the Nazis’ Brutal Last Stand in Italy Edwin S. Grosvenor Summer 2022
Dr. Joyce Brothers Beats the System J.M. Fenster September/October 2021
“Catcher in the Rye” on D-Day Bruce Watson June 2021
Kamikazes Shock the Allies James P. Duffy Summer 2021
Revenge of the Nevada Ed Offley June 2021
Escape from the Warsaw Ghetto Judy Batalion June 2021
“No One Returns Alive” James P. Duffy Fall 2017
"This Is London": Murrow During the Blitz Bob Edwards November 2020
Comrade in Arms Viscount Montgomery of Alamein
“My Room Mate… Is Dwight Eisenhower…” Edward M. Coffman
Serving with Ike Gen. Omar N. Bradley
Heartbreak at Heart Mountain Tom Brokaw October 2020
Marshall's Secret Preparations for War Paul Dickson September 2020
How Ike Led Susan Eisenhower
Two Hours in Hell at Pearl Harbor Ed Offley Winter 2021
Remembering Ernie Pyle Gil Klein Spring 2020
Papa Hemingway Liberates Paris George Goss September/October 2019
Original “Cricket Clicker” Found for 75th Anniversary of D-Day Edwin S. Grosvenor Summer 2019
A.J. Liebling on D-Day Timothy Gay Spring 2019
Gens. Eisenhower & Patton; George Washington Returns; The Iron Spine; The Ship That Wouldn't Die The Editors Spring 2019
Agony and Triumph at Anzio Flint Whitlock Winter 2019
American Civilians Defend Against U-Boats Timothy Gay Spring 2020
The USS Mason Battles U-Boats and Bigots Mary Pat Kelly Summer 2017
My Memories of Winston Churchill John D. Eisenhower Summer 2017
Ike’s Decision Michael Korda Winter 2010
O’Hare’s Last Flight Alvin Kernan Summer 2017
50 Years Ago The Editors Summer 2012
Ike's Son Remembers George S. Patton Jr. John D. Eisenhower Summer 2012
The Day When We Almost Lost the Army Joseph E. Persico Spring 2012
The Court-Martial of Jackie Robinson Jules Tygiel August/September 1984
Texas' Pacific War Museum The Editors Summer 2010
The Naked Truth Of Battle James MacGregor Burns | Edwin S. Grosvenor Winter 2011
Eavesdropping On The Rising Sun Bernard A. Weisberger Fall 2009
Flight Of The Wasps Victoria Pope Spring 2009
Churchill Offers Toil and Tears to FDR John Lukacs Spring/Summer 2008
A Funny Man Writes A Serious Historical Novel Allen Barra April/May 2007
History Now April/May 2007
Hitchcock on Location George Perry April/May 2007
Why Do We Say...? Hugh Rawson April/May 2007
“Don’t Be A Show Off” Gene Smith April/May 2007
Pop Goes The Nation Janet Souter April/May 2007
Resources April/May 2007
The Buyable Past David Lander April/May 2007
The Trial of General Homma Hampton Sides February/March 2007
The Quietest War Kevin Baker October 2006
The War at Home George Perry August/September 2006
Why Do We Say...? Hugh Rawson August/September 2006
Now You Can Offer S--- On A Shingle August/September 2006
History Now August/September 2006
Book $ale August/September 2006
The Boomer Century Joshua Zeitz October 2005
“An Adventure in Prosperity” John Steele Gordon October 2005
“The So-called Charge was Murder” Gene Smith June/July 2005
“Just One More River to Cross” John M. Ryan June/July 2005
“You Will Be Afraid. But You Must Attack.” John J. Pullen June/July 2005
Stickball à La Parisienne The Readers April/May 2005
Vital Books on World War II Roger J. Spiller November/December 2004
The Haunting Remains of Bethlehem Steel Works Richard F. Snow June/July 2004
The Century of American Airpower Fredric Smoler November/December 2003
America's Sweet-and-Sometimes-Sour Relationship with France Richard F. Snow August/September 2003
America's Sweet-and-Sometimes-Sour Relationship with France Richard F. Snow August/September 2003
Empire of the Winds Scott Banks April/May 2003
Where Berlin and America Meet Fredric Smoler April/May 2003
Did Truman Need to Drop the Bomb? D. M. Giangreco April/May 2003
The Aerial Attack on Fort Wayne The Readers March 2003
The Churchill-Roosevelt Forgeries John Lukacs November/December 2002
General Discontent November/December 2002
The Problem with Glorifying World War II-Era America Kevin Baker August/September 2002
Taking Out Mussolini Keith C. Woolley June/July 2002
A Village Disappeared, Thanks to Executive Order 9066 Lilian Takahashi Hoffecker November/December 2001
Hitler and IBM Frederick E. Allen July/August 2001
Return to Midway Shirley Streshinsky April 2001
Another Day of Infamy Kevin Baker April 2001
Cheeseburgers And Code Talkers December 2000
My Father: A Man of the Century Richard F. Snow July/August 2000
Most Underrated World War II Generals Allan R. Millett May/June 2000
Creating The D-Day Museum in New Orleans Stephen E. Ambrose May/June 2000
Serving as a Psychiatrist in World War II October 1999
Losers' Resentments and Obsessions in Alternative History Fredric Smoler September 1999
The Best American War Films Roger J. Spiller February/March 1999
Man is Not God Mark Helprin February/March 1999
Meeting the Japanese Pilot Who Killed My Dad Francis R. Stevens, Jr. December 1998
I Learn a Lot from the Veterans Stephen E. Ambrose November 1998
When The Laws Were Silent William H. Rehnquist October 1998
Is America a Paradise Lost? Fredric Smoler February/March 1998
Near-Miracle Workers in the European Theater Stephen E. Ambrose November 1997
Some Called It the N_____ Ship Richard F. Snow February/March 1997
Nations Rarely Go to War for Economic Reasons Fredric Smoler February/March 1997
Unsordid Richard F. Snow December 1995
From World War to Cold War John Lukacs December 1995
The Little Diplomat James M. Lamont, Jr. December 1995
The Ancient History of the Internet Stephen Bates October 1995
The Lady Brakemen Jocelyn W. Knowles July/August 1995
For the Duration Frederick A. Johnsen May/June 1995
Normandy, 1994 Deronda Elliott May/June 1995
The 36th Mission Frank Clark May/June 1995
The Biggest Decision: Why We Had to Drop the Atomic Bomb Robert James Maddox May/June 1995
Tokyo, 1945 James A. Field, Jr. May/June 1995
Sea Dogs William Galvani October 1994
Make-believe Ballroom Wilbur Devereux Jones September 1994
Revising the Twentieth Century John Lukacs September 1994
The Liberation of Paris September 1994
The Warfare State Bruce D. Porter July/August 1994
Nuremberg, Time, and Memory Joseph E. Persico July/August 1994
The Man of the Century Arthur Schlesinger Jr. May/June 1994
Chaplain Kidder’s Song Nathan Ward May/June 1994
D-Day: What It Meant Charles Cawthon May/June 1994
Build-down T. A. Heppenheimer December 1993
A Question of Character Richard F. Snow October 1993
The Buy of the Century Alexander O. Boulton July/August 1993
Battlefield Souvenir Geoffrey C. Ward July/August 1993
A Short Walk On Guadalcanal Thomas Fleming May/June 1993
The Self-made Man Geoffrey C. Ward September 1992
Forgotten Viceroy John Steele Gordon February/March 1992
The Biggest Theater Edward L. Beach December 1991
Casablanca Edward Sorel December 1991
Secret Treason Fulton Oursler, Jr. December 1991
The Transatlantic Duel: Hitler vs. Roosevelt John Lukacs December 1991
What to Call It? Elliot Rosenberg December 1991
My Guns Roger J. Spiller December 1991
The American Superweapon John Steele Gordon December 1991
A Place to Be Lousy In Peter Andrews December 1991
Hardships Robert Pierce December 1991
Memory as History Richard M. Ketchum November 1991
Close Encounter William Neely September 1991
The Rites of Reparations Bernard A. Weisberger July/August 1991
Not Right for the Part Malvin Wald May/June 1991
Return to East Anglia John McDonough April 1990
Triumph and Tragedy Stephen Shields December 1989
The Real War Roger J. Spiller November 1989
Robeson’s Choice Geoffrey C. Ward April 1989
The Secret of the Soldiers Who Didn’t Shoot Fredric Smoler March 1989
Homer Lea and the Decline of the West Thomas Fleming May/June 1988
The Big Leak Thomas Fleming December 1987
The Example of Private Slovik Benedict B. Kimmelman September/October 1987
The First Wave Alan D. Wiener May/June 1987
America In London Brian Dunning April 1987
How I Became A Royal White Elephant, Third Class Richard Eberhart February/March 1987
Land of the Candy Bar Ray Broekel October/November 1986
The Dangerous Summer of 1940 John Lukacs October/November 1986
The Toughest Flying in the World Richard Rhodes August/September 1986
Four Months On The Front Line Nikolai Stevenson October/november 1985
V-J, 1945 Byron Dobell August/September 1985
Landing At Tokyo Bay Vernon C. Squires August/September 1985
Why We Didn’t Use Poison Gas in World War II Barton J. Bernstein August/September 1985
The Last Cruise Of The YP-438 Ellis Sard June/july 1985
From Normandy To Grenada John Chancellor June/july 1985
The Last Days Of The Third Reich Joseph E. Persico April/May 1985
The Battle of Athens Lones Seiber February/March 1985
What Happened Off Devon Oliver E. Allen February/March 1985
Cantaloupes And Atom Bombs David Brinkley October/November 1984
Good Neighbors David Davidson April/May 1984
Rosie The Riveter Remembers February/March 1984
Benét And The Ensign From Alabama Everett Wood December 1984
Ploesti: A Pilot's Diary Lewis N. Ellis October/November 1983
Churchill’s Dream Pamela C. Harriman October/November 1983
“yes, By Damn, We’re Going Back To Berlin” Lester F. Rentmeester October/November 1983
On Omaha Beach Charles Cawthon October/November 1983
Not Forgetting May Be The Only Heroism Of The Survivor” October/November 1983
The Man Who Planned The Victory Keith E. Eiler October/November 1983
Escape From Vichy Donald Carroll June/july 1983
The President’s Best Friend David Michaelis June/july 1983
Scientists At War Fred Kaplan June/july 1983
FDR A Practical Magician John Kenneth Galbraith February/March 1983
The Ship That Died Of Carelessness Harvey Ardman December 1983
Winston Churchill And “the Natural Captain Of The West” Roy Jenkins October/November 1982
The Agony of the Indianapolis Kenneth E. Ethridge August/September 1982
Looking For The Good Germans David Davidson June/july 1982
“Suddenly, There Were The Americans” John Keegan June/july 1982
II. Bats Away! Joe Michael Feist April/May 1982
I. The Fu-go Project Carmine A. Prioli April/May 1982
A Painter At War February/March 1982
A Postage Stamp History Of The U.S. In The Twentieth Century Judson Mead December 1982
History And The Imagination Arthur Schlesinger Jr. October/november 1981
Merci, America Manuel A. Conley October/november 1981
When I Landed The War Was Over Hughes Rudd October/november 1981
Iwo Jima Alvin M. Josephy Jr. June/July 1981
After The Air Raids John Kenneth Galbraith April/May 1981
Gen. Maxwell Taylor: Memories of Peace and War Robert S. Gallagher April/May 1981
Ernie Pyle Paul Lancaster February/March 1981
Death March Donald Knox December 1981
The Real Meaning Of Pearl Harbor Edwin O. Reischauer December 1981
Truman At Potsdam June/July 1980
Culpable Negligence Edward L. Beach December 1980
Sorry No Gas Stephen W. Sears October/November 1979
“When Does This Place Get to New York?” Geoffrey Bocca June/July 1979
Forbidden Diary Natalie Crouter April/May 1979
The Grimmest Thanksgiving December 1979
Bloody Huertgen: The Battle That Should Never Have Been Fought Gen. James M. Gavin December 1979
The Jump Into Sicily Gen. James M. Gavin April/May 1978
Pursuit: Normandy, 1944 Charles Cawthon February/March 1978
Samuel Eliot Morison Award October 1977
“I Am Become Death…” Richard Rhodes October 1977
Ordeal At Vella Lavella Walter Lord June 1977
From Austerlitz To Moscow Charles Mack December 1977
The Way I See It Bruce Catton October 1976
The Knave Of Boston Francis Russell August 1976
Profile of a Soldier: Matthew B. Ridgway Robert C. Alberts February 1976
July, 1944: St. Lô Charles Cawthon June 1974
Jimmy Doolittle: “I Am Not A Very Timid Type …” Robert S. Gallagher April 1974
The Strange Mission of the Lanikai Adm Kemp Tolley October 1973
Tales From The Black Chambers Clifford B. Hicks April 1973
My Room Mate… Is Dwight Eisenhower…” Edward M. Coffman April 1973
The Bari Raid June 1972
Disaster At Bari Glenn Infield October 1971
Hell’s Highway To Arnhem Stephen W. Sears June 1971
At War With The Stars and Stripes Herbert Mitgang April 1971
The Retreat From Burma Barbara W. Tuchman February 1971
F.D.R: The Last Journey James MacGregor Burns August 1970
“Our German Wehrmacht Is Being Stopped By A Shadow” Corey Ford February 1970
The Longest Wait John Lord June 1969
Leslie Gehres: Captain of the "Ship that Wouldn't Die" David Davidson | Leslie E. Gehres April 1969
A Fateful Friendship Stephen E. Ambrose April 1969
The Gallantry of An “Ugly Duckling” Robert L. Vargas December 1969
The Bombing of Monte Cassino Martin Blumenson August 1968
The Marianas Turkey Shoot Admiral J. J. Clark October 1967
Greetin’s, Cousin George Philip L. Cantelon December 1967
The Place of Franklin D. Roosevelt in History Allan Nevins June 1966
“God, Please Get Us Out Of This” Stephen Bower Young April 1966
“I’ve Served My Time In Hell” George McMillan February 1966
The Battle Off Samar Wilfred P. Deac December 1966
The First Flag-Raising on Iwo Jima Richard Wheeler June 1964
Niihau A Shoal Of Time Gavan Daws | Timothy Head October 1963
How Papa Liberated Paris Gen. S. L. A. Marshall April 1962
The Siege of Wake Island John R. Burroughs June 1959
A Few Men In Soldier Suits Helena Huntington Smith August 1957
One Who Survived June 1956
Heartbreak at Heart Mountain Tom Brokaw October 2020
Eavesdropping On The Rising Sun Bernard A. Weisberger Fall 2009
A Village Disappeared, Thanks to Executive Order 9066 Lilian Takahashi Hoffecker November/December 2001
When The Laws Were Silent William H. Rehnquist October 1998
Seattle Andrew S. Ward April 1994
Robert Walker Kenny and Interned Japanese-Americans Janet Stevenson June 1969
The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Debacle in 1930 Frederic D. O'Brien June/July 2005
The Magician and the Cardsharp Karl Johnson May 2001
A Bang or a Whimper? John Steele Gordon December 1997
The Emperor’s Pierce-Arrow Brooks T. Brierley November 1996
Make-believe Ballroom Wilbur Devereux Jones September 1994
The Man Who Wasn’t There John Steele Gordon November 1991
America’s True Power John Lukacs March 1989
The Dinner Party A. R. Gurney September/October 1988
A National Monument to the Great Depression Ivan E. Prall March 1988
Can History Save Us from a Depression? Timothy C. Forbes February 1988
The Big Picture of the Great Depression John A. Garraty August/September 1986
The Golden Age Of Advertising Roland Marchand April/May 1985
1934 Fifty Years Ago April/May 1984
R. G. Fiege, Circus Painter August/september 1983
The Olympics That Almost Wasn’t Al J. Stump August/September 1982
The Cost Of Living In America, 1800—1980 John A. Garraty February/March 1981
Good Reading Barbara Klaw April/May 1979
Route 66: Ghost Road Of Okies Thomas W. Pew, Jr. August 1977
Knights of the Fast Freight Clark C. Spence August 1976
“In This Proud Land” Nancy Wood August 1973
The Legacy Of Craftsmen Marshall B. Davidson April 1972
Hard Times Remembered Studs Terkel April 1970
The Place of Franklin D. Roosevelt in History Allan Nevins June 1966
Bonus March John D. Weaver June 1963

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