All Out For Victory

Madaus, Russell, and Higgins (all, Boston College) provide an exemplary overview of the consequences of high-stakes testing in the context of contemporary school reform policy. A major theme in this book centers on the assertion that high-stakes testing is the driving force behind school reform policy today. The authors argue that school reform policies, based solely on high-stakes testing, were mandated before careful research on the potential advantages and disadvantages. As members of the testing community, the authors do find value in testing; however, they also recognize its limitations, especially in the context of diverse populations. Those in charge of developing and implementing school reform policies today would find this to be an excellent resource; however, the book is also appropriate for a wide audience. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels. Reviewed by J. C. Agnew-Tally.

The story of such military strategists and daring fliers as Arnold, Spaatz, Doolittle, LeMay, Chennault, Bong, Gabreski, Cochran, and Vincent.

A noted historian examines the impact of culture and politics on the wartime attitudes and experiences of Americans and their expectations concerning the postwar world.

In this book Professor Kissinger examines the framework of our foreign policy, the stresses to which that framework is being subjected, and the prospects for world order in an era of high international tension. The three essays were written before Professor Kissinger took leave from Harvard to serve as Assistant to President Nixon for National Secu

The poster - inexpensive, colorful, and immediate - was an ideal medium for delivering messages about Americans' duties on the home front during World War II. Design for Victory presents more than 150 of these stunning images - many never reproduced since their first issue - culled from the collections of the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. William L. Bird, Jr. and Harry R. Rubenstein delve beneath the surface of these colorful graphics, telling the stories behind their production and revealing how posters fulfilled the goals and needs of their creators. The authors describe the history of how specific posters were conceived and received, focusing on the workings of the wartime advertising profession and demonstrating how posters often reflected uneasy relations between labor and management.

“This [volume] covers the Allied shift to the offensive in early 1943 to the defeat of Germany in May 1945. During this period, the indomitable Chief of Staff gained growing respect and trust from Roosevelt and Churchill and unparalleled respect from Congress and the country. The profound differences with our British Allies, the selection of Eisenhower to command the invasion force, the Mac-Arthur-Nimitz feud in the Pacific, the machinations at Yalta, the decision not to try to beat the Russians to Berlin, and the establishment of the occupation zones are covered in detail.” — The Military Engineer “The years 1943-45 were years of fulfillment, during which the greatest of American Chiefs of Staff saw the army that he had raised committed to the struggle against the Axis, in accordance with the strategical plan that he had devised and persuaded his allies to accept... there is little doubt that the decision [to keep Marshall in Washington and send Eisenhower to command the 1944 Normandy invasion] was fortunate for the nation, and Mr. Pogue’s substantial volume is filled with material to show why this was so... [a] rewarding volume.” — Gordon A. Craig, The New York Times “For those who wish to understand the American war effort, this is the place to begin... Also the book for those who want to meet an old-fashioned hero... In sum, a magnificent book about a magnificent man.” — Stephen E. Ambrose, Washington Post “An outstanding example of modern biography.” — Robert Kirsch, Los Angeles Times “This book is a careful, sensitive evaluation of an individual whose contribution to the Allied victory in World War II was unsurpassed. In addition, it is a fine description of the events and personalities of that conflict. As such, this book is a valuable addition to the literature of recent military history.” — David J. Alvarez, Military Affairs “In this [volume], scholars see Marshall at his best as soldier and statesman and Pogue at his best as biographer and historian. The product of this happy combination is a basic and indispensable work on World War II... It will be difficult to equal, let alone surpass, the excellence of this volume.” — Harry L. Coles, The Journal of American History “The best volume of biography I have ever been privileged to read... If any student of the future, or any citizen for that matter, can read but one book in his effort to get a clear understanding of the most climactic period in our history, this is the one.” — Ira Eaker, Aerospace Historian “This is biography at its best... A first-rate history of the two climactic years of the war... One of the best works yet written about the war. It is global in scope, deeply researched, thorough, written with clarity and forcefulness...” — Louis Morton, The American Historical Review “Pogue provides a well-documented and readable account of [Marshall’s] career from 1943-45... Pogue makes an important contribution to World War II historiography.” — John M. Carroll, The Review of Politics “For understanding the great decisions and personalities of the war that began the Cold War, this may be the most stimulating and the most indispensable book. Marshall would be proud of what Pogue has written, not because it is favorable but because it is fair.” — Noel F. Parrish, The Journal of Southern History “[An] excellent account... Pogue does [Marshall] justice.” — Willard F. Barber, Military Affairs “The... surely definitive George C. Marshall biography... a heavily documented text which incorporates or quotes from the Marshall papers and related material... the emphasis on the professional career continues while still attempting to build a portrait of the human being behind the braid... this continues the detailed, stately march through that calm, dedicated, supersubstantial call to national service which here ends with the German surrender in May of 1945 but is to be continued on the diplomatic shoals.” — Kirkus Reviews “Military historian Pogue... tops his previous fine efforts... with this superb study of his subject at the turning point of humankind’s greatest armed conflict... This is biography at its best... Pogue’s talent is exceeded only by his ability to write as forcefully and interestingly as any first-ranked novelist. The result is a biography which crackles with exciting drama and makes reading it not only an intellectually profitable experience but one that is also pleasurable... An epochal mural of a world at war... An outstanding and eminently readable biography...” — Princeton Alumni Weekly “Pogue is to be applauded. The book is indispensable to an understanding of the war and to an appreciation of the part played by Marshall and others in the unfolding drama.” — Armin Rappaport, Pacific Historical Review “Splendid... A superb biography.” — John F. Melby, Pacific Affairs “This is really the record not just of one great war but of an infinity of little wars.” — New York Post

A lively look at magazine ads during World War II and their roles in sustaining morale and promoting home-front support of the war, with lots of illustrations

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Paul Kennedy, award-winning author of The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers and one of today’s most renowned historians, now provides a new and unique look at how World War II was won. Engineers of Victory is a fascinating nuts-and-bolts account of the strategic factors that led to Allied victory. Kennedy reveals how the leaders’ grand strategy was carried out by the ordinary soldiers, scientists, engineers, and businessmen responsible for realizing their commanders’ visions of success. In January 1943, FDR and Churchill convened in Casablanca and established the Allied objectives for the war: to defeat the Nazi blitzkrieg; to control the Atlantic sea lanes and the air over western and central Europe; to take the fight to the European mainland; and to end Japan’s imperialism. Astonishingly, a little over a year later, these ambitious goals had nearly all been accomplished. With riveting, tactical detail, Engineers of Victory reveals how. Kennedy recounts the inside stories of the invention of the cavity magnetron, a miniature radar “as small as a soup plate,” and the Hedgehog, a multi-headed grenade launcher that allowed the Allies to overcome the threat to their convoys crossing the Atlantic; the critical decision by engineers to install a super-charged Rolls-Royce engine in the P-51 Mustang, creating a fighter plane more powerful than the Luftwaffe’s; and the innovative use of pontoon bridges (made from rafts strung together) to help Russian troops cross rivers and elude the Nazi blitzkrieg. He takes readers behind the scenes, unveiling exactly how thousands of individual Allied planes and fighting ships were choreographed to collectively pull off the invasion of Normandy, and illuminating how crew chiefs perfected the high-flying and inaccessible B-29 Superfortress that would drop the atomic bombs on Japan. The story of World War II is often told as a grand narrative, as if it were fought by supermen or decided by fate. Here Kennedy uncovers the real heroes of the war, highlighting for the first time the creative strategies, tactics, and organizational decisions that made the lofty Allied objectives into a successful reality. In an even more significant way, Engineers of Victory has another claim to our attention, for it restores “the middle level of war” to its rightful place in history. Praise for Engineers of Victory “Superbly written and carefully documented . . . indispensable reading for anyone who seeks to understand how and why the Allies won.”—The Christian Science Monitor “An important contribution to our understanding of World War II . . . Like an engineer who pries open a pocket watch to reveal its inner mechanics, [Paul] Kennedy tells how little-known men and women at lower levels helped win the war.”—Michael Beschloss, The New York Times Book Review “Histories of World War II tend to concentrate on the leaders and generals at the top who make the big strategic decisions and on the lowly grunts at the bottom. . . . [Engineers of Victory] seeks to fill this gap in the historiography of World War II and does so triumphantly. . . . This book is a fine tribute.”—The Wall Street Journal “[Kennedy] colorfully and convincingly illustrates the ingenuity and persistence of a few men who made all the difference.”—The Washington Post “This superb book is Kennedy’s best.”—Foreign Affairs