The Arsenal of Democracy
FDR, Detroit, and an Epic Quest to Arm an America at War
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Narrated by:
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Peter Berkrot
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By:
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A. J. Baime
About this listen
A New York Times best seller.
A dramatic, intimate narrative of how Ford Motor Company went from making automobiles to producing the airplanes that would mean the difference between winning and losing World War II. In 1941, as Hitler’s threat loomed ever larger, President Roosevelt realized he needed weaponry to fight the Nazis - most important, airplanes - and he needed them fast. So he turned to Detroit and the auto industry for help. The Arsenal of Democracy tells the incredible story of how Detroit answered the call, centering on Henry Ford and his tortured son Edsel, who, when asked if they could deliver 50,000 airplanes, made an outrageous claim: Ford Motor Company would erect a plant that could yield a "bomber an hour". Critics scoffed: Ford didn’t make planes; they made simple, affordable cars. But bucking his father’s resistance, Edsel charged ahead. Ford would apply assembly-line production to the American military’s largest, fastest, most destructive bomber; they would build a plant vast in size and ambition on a plot of farmland and call it Willow Run; they would bring in tens of thousands of workers from across the country, transforming Detroit, almost overnight, from Motor City to the “great arsenal of democracy.” And eventually they would help the Allies win the war. Drawing on exhaustive research from the Ford Archives, the National Archives, and the FDR Library, A. J. Baime has crafted an enthralling, character-driven narrative of American innovation that has never been fully told, leaving readers with a vivid new portrait of America - and Detroit - during the war.
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Raid on the Sun
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From the earliest days of his dictatorship, Saddam Hussein had vowed to destroy Israel. So, when France sold Iraq a top-of-the-line nuclear reactor in 1975, the Israelis were justifiably concerned, especially when they discovered that Iraqi scientists had already formulated a secret program to extract weapon-grade plutonium from the reactor, a first critical step in creating an atomic bomb.
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Fascinating detail of a historic strike
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The First Heroes
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Performance
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Immediately after Japan's December 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt sought to restore the honor of the United States with a dramatic act of vengeance: a retaliatory bombing raid on Tokyo itself. In those early days of World War II, America was ill-prepared for any sort of warfare. But FDR was not to be dissuaded, and at his bidding a squadron of scarcely trained army fliers, led by the famous daredevil Jimmy Doolittle, set forth on what everyone regarded as a suicide mission.
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Heroic Attempt
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By: Craig Nelson
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Black Snow
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Seven minutes past midnight on March 10, 1945, nearly 300 American B-29s thundered into the skies over Tokyo. Their payloads of incendiaries ignited a firestorm that reached up to 2,800 degrees, liquefying asphalt and vaporizing thousands; sixteen square miles of the city were flattened and more than 100,000 men, women, and children were killed. Black Snow is the story of this devastating operation, orchestrated by Major General Curtis LeMay, who famously remarked: "If we lose the war, we'll be tried as war criminals."
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Top notch!
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A Brotherhood of Spies
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On May 1, 1960, an American U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet Union just weeks before a peace summit between the two nations. The CIA concocted a cover story for President Eisenhower to deliver, assuring him that no one could have survived a fall from that altitude. But against all odds, pilot Francis Gary Powers emerged from the wreckage and was seized by the KGB. Award-winning journalist Monte Reel reveals how the U-2 spy program, principally devised by four men working in secret, upended the Cold War and carved a new mission for the CIA.
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Lessons Learned
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Mission
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In March 1941 Jimmy Stewart, America's boy next door and recent Academy Award winner, left fame and fortune behind and joined the United States Army Air Corps to fulfill his family mission and serve his country. He rose from private to colonel and participated in 20 often-brutal World War II combat missions over Germany and France. In mere months the war took away his boyish looks as he faced near-death experiences and the loss of men under his command. The war finally won, he returned home with millions of other veterans to face an uncertain future.
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SKIP THIS ONE
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By: Robert Matzen, and others
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The Great Leader and the Fighter Pilot
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In The Great Leader and the Fighter Pilot, New York Times best-selling author Blaine Harden tells the riveting story of how Kim Il Sung grabbed power and plunged his country into war against the United States while the youngest fighter pilot in his air force was playing a high-risk game of deception - and escape.
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Great story
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Enduring Courage
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At the turn of the twentieth century two new technologies—the car and airplane—took the nation's imagination by storm as they burst, like comets, into American life. The brave souls that leaped into these dangerous contraptions and pushed them to unexplored extremes became new American heroes: the race car driver and the flying ace. No individual did more to create and intensify these raw new roles than the tall, gangly Eddie Rickenbacker, who defied death over and over with such courage and pluck that a generation of Americans came to know his face better than the president's.
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A true ace, and an example for us all.
- By Gotta Tellya on 08-20-14
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The Millionaires' Unit
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The Millionaires' Unit is the story of a gilded generation of young men from the zenith of privilege: a Rockerfeller; the son of the head of the Union Pacific Railroad; several who counted friends and relatives among presidents and statesmen of the day. They had it all and, remarkably by modern standards, they were prepared to risk it all to fight a distant war in France.
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Hard story to get into.
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Boyd
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John Boyd may be the most remarkable unsung hero in all of American military history. Some remember him as the greatest US fighter pilot ever - the man who, in simulated air-to-air combat, defeated every challenger in less than 40 seconds. Some recall him as the father of our country's most legendary fighter aircraft - the F-15 and F-16. Still, others think of Boyd as the most influential military theorist since Sun Tzu. They know only half the story.
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Stick With It if You Want a Rare Gem
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By: Robert Coram
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What listeners say about The Arsenal of Democracy
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- C.B.
- 02-19-17
Enlightening
Answered many questions I had about the Fords and our entry into the European War. Narrator was perfect for this project.
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- Bruce Kaufmann
- 05-18-15
Mostly about the Ford family
What made the experience of listening to The Arsenal of Democracy the most enjoyable?
An American success story
What did you like best about this story?
The hows of the development of our WW2 weapons industry
What about Peter Berkrot’s performance did you like?
Excellent performance
If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
All about the Fords
Any additional comments?
Almost a page turner which says a lot for the story line
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- LT
- 05-23-22
Ford Production in WWII
Great information on how Ford used their manufacturing methods to help manufacture planes, motors, etc.. during WWII
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- Sally Filler
- 06-14-15
Excellent story well done
What made the experience of listening to The Arsenal of Democracy the most enjoyable?
I really enjoyed the background information. I found I learned a great deal about the difficulties of our build up to WWII. I also found educational and disturbing what a jerk Henry Ford senior was
Which scene was your favorite?
Not a particular scene, but 's perseverance in getting the project done. Gave me a very new insight into the whole Ford family
If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?
Henry Ford the Tyrant Traitor
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- Burt
- 06-30-15
The birth of American supremacy
Beautifully written summary of the most important part of American history. I recommend this book to anyone.
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- Henslee W.
- 05-04-15
Great review w just enough detail. Amazing true
I really enjoyed this book as it told both the story of industrialation and personal histories of so many important people.
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- JSC51
- 10-06-15
Great story and performance
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The Henry and Edsel back story was riveting and framed this amazing American story.
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8 people found this helpful
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- Johnny
- 06-12-15
Great read!!
This book was very well written and it couldn't have been read better!! Thoroughly enjoyed it!!!
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- zach65
- 05-16-15
Too Focused on Ford and Williow Run
Overall a very good book. However, the title deceiving: this is a book about the Ford Motor Company in the Willow Run liberator bomber plant – – the broader war effort is mentioned only occasionally and in passing.
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- Michael E. B.
- 06-09-21
Fascinating Saga of Detroit Ford in WW2
Great fascinating story of Detroit and Ford contribution to World War II and the production of of heavy bombers the B-24 and its role in winning the war in Europe from the Nazis. it also served as a biography of three generations of the Ford family which is also fascinating. it's understandable that his Viewpoint was biased for the Detroit and Ford family as playing a super important role in World War II. some of the omissions were glaring for example there is very little mention of the aircraft carrier battles in the Pacific especially the Battle of Midway which is flat by much smaller dive bomber and Naval fighter aircraft. if one only read this account of the war in Germany. the fact that the Soviet Union and the appropriately despised Stalin played a huge huge role in Fall of Germany and the fall of Berlin in particular was completely ignored. the role of African-Americans in the Ford plant and their contribution was recognized. the Detroit race riot however seem to give it only from the White Citizens perspective and was incorrectly presented as equally the fall of whites and blacks when these were actually white racist who resented African Americans having any role at all in decent jobs and livelihood. the role of the black Tuskegee Airmen Against All Odds being able to master the flight of the Mustang Fighters was overlooked. Actually completely ignored mentioning the fact that these black fighter pilots protected the B-24 Pilot flight crews would have given balance and accuracy to the story.
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