Over at Battlelands, there is a great article on a new book by Arthur Herman entitled Freedom’s Forge. Looks like a good read, hopefully it is not like my Macro Economics book that was sleep inducing.
Have been tied up doing by Background Investigation paperwork, I plan to respond to the comments made in my previous blog “Me Thinks. . .”.
Don't know if anyone caught the statistics at the end of the interview – more american defense workers in the US died than combat casualties in 1942 – I had no earthly idea.
I too was taken back by that statistic. But given some of the literature I have read over the years about specific communities such as Norfolk and Wilmington NC this is highly probable. We need to remember there was no OSHA!
I'll probably buy a copy for my library eventually, but from the Babbleland piece it looks like he'll overstate Knudsen's contributions. But that's consistent with the author's style: showing the 'history' through the lives of a few key players.
If you want possibly just as interesting (especially in some of the notes) on this topic (and free!) see the 1996 paper on this topic here: kms1.isn.ethz.ch/serviceengine/Files/ISN/23588/…/mcnair50.pdf
I wouldn't be surprised if the new book and old paper use many of the common sources.
BTW: I'm leery of Thompson's Babbleland promotion of the book (as I am of Thompson). Maybe it's just a drive-by piece making the past look better as to make the present look worse? Who knows. Thompson broke into the national scene ages ago by writing a series of articles decrying what was a Bell UH-1/AH-1 design limitation as a 'flawed' design. Anyone remember "mast bumping"? Got him the Pulitzer and a seat at the big people's table.