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gentrymethod's review
adventurous
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
4.75
Amazing Story about American Industry, and the men and women who built the Arsenal of Democracy!
mthorley23's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 stars. Wow! That was a ride! This book is very well written and inspiring. I was continually amazed at how much these few men accomplished on such a massive scale because they knew what they were good at and how to utilize their resources effectively, including enabling those around them to shine. They were also firm believers in the power of a capitalist system where government got out of the way except to enable its citizens to put their talents and skills to good use solving the problems that their country faced. I found myself telling my kids that the examples of amazing men in this book prove that persistence, ingenuity, and hard work will enable them to achieve great things. There are lots of potential themes to discuss, making this an excellent candidate for a book club read. I deducted a half star because I started skimming over the technical descriptions about half to 2/3 of the way through the book. Amazing subject though!
andrew_russell's review against another edition
2.0
You always know that when you annotate a highlighted passage on your Kindle with the words 'boring as fuck', you are onto a loser. At that moment, you realise that whatever you may be reading is not going to enter your own personal canon of literature. The passage below was an example of just such a segment within Freedom's Forge by Arthur Herman.
It was soon decided to let North American continue to make B-25s in Kansas City and take up the B-29s at a new plant in Omaha. Fisher Body never did make entire B-29s, although they supplied the bulk of wing assemblies and engine nacelles for Wichita, Marietta, and Omaha—as well as for a fourth principal assembly plant in Renton, outside Seattle.33 The production of R-3350s ended up being farmed out, as well, with new plants coming on line in 1943 at Woodbridge, New Jersey, and outside Chicago.
In fact, 'boring as fuck' could very well imagined to have been suggested as the strapline for this work. There are after all, only so many ways that you can express the mind-boggling industriousness of the U.S. both in the lead-up to and during the Second World War. So many repetitive numbers of machine-guns, tanks, aircraft and other war materiel before your brain simply atrophies with each sentence read, eventually becoming a point of singularity; a point of infinite density from which there is no hope for recovery.
The story itself is intriguing. A nation with relatively speaking, fairly puny defence capabilities, somehow lifting itself up by the bootstraps and becoming the saviour of all who were on the Allied side, including themselves. And then continuing that trend in the postwar years, rapidly rising to become a global superpower. If this hadn't happened, the war would have had a much darker outcome for the Allies.
But...but...Herman manages to take this modern day, almost mythical fable (except it actually happened) and make it as dull as ditchwater. Like some kind of anti-alchemist, everything he touches (with his pen) turns to 'blahblahblahblahblahblahblah', ad infinitum. There are some jaw-dropping factoids within this - but that's all they are - factoids. And he didn't invent them. They happened without any of his literary anti-alchemy. So no brownie points there, son. Okay, maybe half a point.
I would recommend this to anyone who feels that they have been reading too many good books lately - that somehow they find themselves not fully appreciating what they are reading, that things have got a bit stale. Just give this a whirl and I guarantee the next book you read will be 'amazing'.
It was soon decided to let North American continue to make B-25s in Kansas City and take up the B-29s at a new plant in Omaha. Fisher Body never did make entire B-29s, although they supplied the bulk of wing assemblies and engine nacelles for Wichita, Marietta, and Omaha—as well as for a fourth principal assembly plant in Renton, outside Seattle.33 The production of R-3350s ended up being farmed out, as well, with new plants coming on line in 1943 at Woodbridge, New Jersey, and outside Chicago.
In fact, 'boring as fuck' could very well imagined to have been suggested as the strapline for this work. There are after all, only so many ways that you can express the mind-boggling industriousness of the U.S. both in the lead-up to and during the Second World War. So many repetitive numbers of machine-guns, tanks, aircraft and other war materiel before your brain simply atrophies with each sentence read, eventually becoming a point of singularity; a point of infinite density from which there is no hope for recovery.
The story itself is intriguing. A nation with relatively speaking, fairly puny defence capabilities, somehow lifting itself up by the bootstraps and becoming the saviour of all who were on the Allied side, including themselves. And then continuing that trend in the postwar years, rapidly rising to become a global superpower. If this hadn't happened, the war would have had a much darker outcome for the Allies.
But...but...Herman manages to take this modern day, almost mythical fable (except it actually happened) and make it as dull as ditchwater. Like some kind of anti-alchemist, everything he touches (with his pen) turns to 'blahblahblahblahblahblahblah', ad infinitum. There are some jaw-dropping factoids within this - but that's all they are - factoids. And he didn't invent them. They happened without any of his literary anti-alchemy. So no brownie points there, son. Okay, maybe half a point.
I would recommend this to anyone who feels that they have been reading too many good books lately - that somehow they find themselves not fully appreciating what they are reading, that things have got a bit stale. Just give this a whirl and I guarantee the next book you read will be 'amazing'.
dunguyen's review
3.0
Freedom's Forge is a pretty interesting book but for me it had some significant drawbacks. Freedom's Forge is really an ode to private enterprise and the ingenuity and industriousness of American manufacturing in the second world war. It details primarily with the key people who before the war became the utmost industrialists of the country before then turning to war production. Another key narrative is how the special American private-public manufacturing helped produce the munitions, planes, tanks, small arms and more to help the allies win the war.
I really found the narrative interesting with some of the key people who could see how manufacturing could be done more efficiently. The entire subject is also interesting, about war economy and the logistics of production but I think it was not utilized as well as I would have liked. Some of the more interesting aspects for me was the New Deal and the depression but in the book, it is barely mentioned. I do not know enough American history to know what the New Deal had of effect on private enterprise and I really wished the author would spend more time analyzing how the entire American industry and business was like before the war and how it allowed for the massive production that supplied to all of the allies. I would also really have liked more description of the post-war economy which I didn't think was described all that much. And perhaps less focus on the individual characters which at some points almost verged into hero worship.
Overall an interesting book that I think could have been much more if it focused more on the history of the economy and production rather than the story of the few people who lead the charges.
I really found the narrative interesting with some of the key people who could see how manufacturing could be done more efficiently. The entire subject is also interesting, about war economy and the logistics of production but I think it was not utilized as well as I would have liked. Some of the more interesting aspects for me was the New Deal and the depression but in the book, it is barely mentioned. I do not know enough American history to know what the New Deal had of effect on private enterprise and I really wished the author would spend more time analyzing how the entire American industry and business was like before the war and how it allowed for the massive production that supplied to all of the allies. I would also really have liked more description of the post-war economy which I didn't think was described all that much. And perhaps less focus on the individual characters which at some points almost verged into hero worship.
Overall an interesting book that I think could have been much more if it focused more on the history of the economy and production rather than the story of the few people who lead the charges.
mashygpig's review
3.0
An enjoyable read, but the author’s biases are painfully obvious that it’s difficult to know how truthful certain things are being portrayed. For example there are only criticisms of unions, which it is fine to have criticisms. But when you criticize unions and strikes and don’t relate to why the workers might want unions while also dispassionately describing how many factory workers in America died during the war effort, then maybe you should maybe you don’t have your narrative straight.
lancastergainesville's review
4.0
I never really understood just how much war materiel the US produced in WWII. This book is packed with info. I appreciate how the author also mentioned some of the workers, not the bigwigs running the show. Took a while for me to get through because some parts are dry, but hey, it's a history, and that's how history books are. Overall, a great read, and an eye-opener for me.
mburnamfink's review
5.0
In World War II, the Allies buried the Axis under a torrent of technological products. This is the story of that production miracle, as seen through the biographies of two key leaders. Bill Knudsen was a Danish immigrant who at General Motors pioneered flexible mass production and annual models of automobiles. Henry Kaiser was an entrepreneur who made his fortune on the West Coast, first building roads and then leading mega-scale projects like the Hoover and Grand Coulee Dams.
In 1940, America was one of the most productive countries in the world, but industry had been hit hard by the Great Depression, and almost none of that capacity was geared towards military ends. The Army was without tanks, the Air Force was third tier at best, and while the Navy had capital ships, it was deficient in escorts and transports. In the last war, American soldiers had fought with French and British equipment. While Wilson had ordered a mass mobilization, production hang-ups and logistical snafus meant that very little of what was ordered ever saw a battlefield. If that happened again, there would be no way to defeat the Axis.
Knudsen was appointed Chairman of the Office of Production Management, and in the time between the invasion of Poland and Pearl Harbor, when American involvement in the war was distinctly unpopular, began the tricky work of converting commercial production over to military use. Knudsen used his immense standing in industry and his detailed knowledge of production to begin producing machine tools and setting up new factories. From fitful beginnings, Knudsen unleashed an avalanche of material: hundreds of thousands of tanks and aircraft, along with billions of shells and all the other necessary components of war.
Kaiser turned his mega-project style to building transports, churning out hundreds of Liberty cargo ships, along with oilers and escort carriers. Applying mass production to ships cut the build time down from 200 days to 25 at full swing. As part of a contest, one yard turned out a complete ship in 4 days! But Kaiser's publicity seeking style made him enemies, including Bill Knudsen. And when Liberty ships began cracking up, Kaiser's reputation took the blame, even though the fault was a combination of design and steel quality, rather than manufacturing defects.
Herman is a conservative intellectual, with longtime associations with the American Enterprise Institute and the Hudson Institute, and this book is a paean to big business. Celebrating industry is a fair frame, but Herman can't help himself from taking swipes at FDR, the New Deal, or organized labor whenever he can. My politics are basically entirely opposed to Herman's, but the story that he tells is engaging enough that I can give his obligatory right wing gruntings a pass. Wages of Destruction is worth reading, but Freedom's Forge is fun reading. It's just important to keep in mind that contrary to Herman's great man focused vision, the American people paid for the war, where the big contractors got a cost+8% contract and useful capital installations afterwards; workers milled, stamped, riveted, and welded the ships, planes, tanks, and guns; and ultimately an army of citizen-soldiers used these weapons to win the war.
In 1940, America was one of the most productive countries in the world, but industry had been hit hard by the Great Depression, and almost none of that capacity was geared towards military ends. The Army was without tanks, the Air Force was third tier at best, and while the Navy had capital ships, it was deficient in escorts and transports. In the last war, American soldiers had fought with French and British equipment. While Wilson had ordered a mass mobilization, production hang-ups and logistical snafus meant that very little of what was ordered ever saw a battlefield. If that happened again, there would be no way to defeat the Axis.
Knudsen was appointed Chairman of the Office of Production Management, and in the time between the invasion of Poland and Pearl Harbor, when American involvement in the war was distinctly unpopular, began the tricky work of converting commercial production over to military use. Knudsen used his immense standing in industry and his detailed knowledge of production to begin producing machine tools and setting up new factories. From fitful beginnings, Knudsen unleashed an avalanche of material: hundreds of thousands of tanks and aircraft, along with billions of shells and all the other necessary components of war.
Kaiser turned his mega-project style to building transports, churning out hundreds of Liberty cargo ships, along with oilers and escort carriers. Applying mass production to ships cut the build time down from 200 days to 25 at full swing. As part of a contest, one yard turned out a complete ship in 4 days! But Kaiser's publicity seeking style made him enemies, including Bill Knudsen. And when Liberty ships began cracking up, Kaiser's reputation took the blame, even though the fault was a combination of design and steel quality, rather than manufacturing defects.
Herman is a conservative intellectual, with longtime associations with the American Enterprise Institute and the Hudson Institute, and this book is a paean to big business. Celebrating industry is a fair frame, but Herman can't help himself from taking swipes at FDR, the New Deal, or organized labor whenever he can. My politics are basically entirely opposed to Herman's, but the story that he tells is engaging enough that I can give his obligatory right wing gruntings a pass. Wages of Destruction is worth reading, but Freedom's Forge is fun reading. It's just important to keep in mind that contrary to Herman's great man focused vision, the American people paid for the war, where the big contractors got a cost+8% contract and useful capital installations afterwards; workers milled, stamped, riveted, and welded the ships, planes, tanks, and guns; and ultimately an army of citizen-soldiers used these weapons to win the war.