Our Mothers' War: American Women at Home and at the Front During World War II | 
 enlarge | Author: Emily Yellin
Publisher: Free Press
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 167682
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 464
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.5 x 1.2
ISBN: 0743245164
Dewey Decimal Number: 940.53082
EAN: 9780743245166
ASIN: 0743245164
Publication Date: March 1, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Our Mothers' War is an eye-opening and moving portrait of women during World War II, a war that forever transformed the way women participate in American society. Never before has the vast range of women's experiences during this pivotal era been brought together in one book. Now, Our Mothers' War re-creates what American women from all walks of life were doing and thinking, on the home front and abroad. These heartwarming and sometimes heartbreaking accounts of the women we have known as mothers, aunts, and grandmothers reveal facets of their lives that have usually remained unmentioned and unappreciated.Our Mothers' War gives center stage to one of WWII's most essential fighting forces: the women of America, whose extraordinary bravery, strength, and humanity shine through on every page.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 Other Sources..... August 25, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
See Women of the Homefront by Pauline E. Parker for first hand accounts of life on the homefront during WWII.
 Fast, Entertaining Read February 15, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book was a response to the popular Our Father's War, and I think it does a good job capturing the woman's perspective during the war. It is filled with popular history sources and first hand accounts which really gives the reader a clear understanding and a vivid picture of what a woman's life was like during the war. The book isn't too heavy on traditional historical evidence or prose but that is one of the reasons why it reads so fast. It's a great book to set the tone and instill ideas to be further researched by those interested in more detail. Overall, I highly recommend the book to anyone. It was very entertaining.
Excellent Resource November 5, 2006
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
The voice of women veterans is one too seldom heard. Now, with WWII veterans dying at a rate of over 1,000 per day, those voices will all too soon become silent. WWII was the first time women joined the military, and they encountered prejudice and hardships every step of the way. The women and nurses who served in the military witnessed horrors that many of the men encountered, but with much less preparation and little resource for healing after the war. All but forgotten for the roles they performed, this book brings to light their stories by both the women themselves, as well as the author's research and study. Much of the information is rarely found in available books, and "Our Mothers War" is an excellent resource for that information- particularly on the lesser known women's roles on the homefront, in espionage, and those who were taken as prisoners of war. Women volunteered to help the war effort in every possible way. The accounts tell stories of war as well as stories of the lighter side of day-to-day living that was the human side of life during WWII.
An excellent overall account of women in the 1940's, and one that will likely encourage the reader to delve deeper into our nation's history of female veterans, women's roles and the women's movement.
Great personal in-depth look March 27, 2005
14 out of 17 found this review helpful
This isn't meant to be some exhaustive encyclopedia, but it's nevertheless a very solid thorough detailed account of what the women of the WWII generation went through, in many facets and fields. Besides just writing about the women in the military, in the factories, on the general homefront, and in the Japanese-American internment camps, there is also interesting insightful information on areas little covered, such as the women who worked at or who had husbands working at Los Alamos, prostitutes, women in right-wing pro-Fascist groups agitating against the American government, and spies. It's stunning to read about all the women of my grandmothers' generation had to struggle against to be accepted into the military, in factories, as professionals, in any capacity in fact besides that of wife, mother, sister, and girlfriend. Particularly horrifying was the section on the Victory Girls; the sexual double standard sent women (many of them proven innocent) suspected of passing VD to soldiers to jail, while giving these soldiers no punishment for cavorting with prostitutes and giving them the best care instead of forcing them to languish in dank unhygienic jail cells without medical attention. Blame the women and treat the men as innocent victims. Also shocking in modern times is how women believed to be lesbians in the military were treated, like they had a mental disorder and were deranged unnatural deviants, as well as how many women who had loyally punctually worked in the factories were handed their discharge slips on the day the boys came home. Still, even restrained by the double standard and beliefs of the era, these women had tasted freedom and greater possibilities, and thanks to everything they did, their knowledge of greater possibilities, they raised daughters who would help to bring about the womens' liberation movement in the next generation, knowing they could never go back to the limited world and possibilities that had existed prior to WWII.
from homemakers to movie stars.... January 24, 2005
2 out of 5 found this review helpful
Very informative book on the roles that American women took on during WWII. It showed the beginning of women becoming more empowered by having to work outside of the home. This book should be required reading in all U.S. History classes.
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