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Over Here!: New York City During World War II |  | Author: Lorraine B. Diehl
Publisher: Smithsonian
Category: Book
List Price: $26.99
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Seller: THE BOOK SHACK
Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 186639
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 288
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.3
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 7.4 x 1
ISBN: 0061431346
Dewey Decimal Number: 940.537471
EAN: 9780061431340
ASIN: 0061431346
Publication Date: January 1, 2010
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
A wonderfully nostalgic and inspiring look at the center of the home front during World War II—New York City More than any other place, New York was the center of action on the home front during World War II. As Hitler came to power in Germany, American Nazis goose-stepped in Yorkville on the Upper East Side, while recently arrived Jewish ÉmigrÉs found refuge on the Upper West Side. When America joined the fight, enlisted men heading for battle in Europe or the Pacific streamed through Grand Central Terminal and Pennsylvania Station. The Brooklyn Navy Yard refitted ships, and Times Square overflowed with soldiers and sailors enjoying some much-needed R & R. German U-boats attacked convoys leaving New York Harbor. Silhouetted against the gleaming skyline, ships were easy prey—debris and even bodies washed up on Long Island beaches—until the city rallied under a stringently imposed dim-out. From Rockefeller Center's Victory Gardens and Manhattan's swanky nightclubs to metal-scrap drives and carless streets, Over Here! captures the excitement, trepidation, and bustle of this legendary city during wartime. Filled with the reminiscences of ordinary and famous New Yorkers, including Walter Cronkite, Barbara Walters, and Angela Lansbury, and rich in surprising detail—from Macy's blackout boutique to Mickey Mouse gas masks for kids—this engaging look back is an illuminating tour of New York on the front lines of the home front.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 9
A Page Turner Indeed June 18, 2010
Hollywood Howie (Santa Monica, CA)
This book is a must-read for anyone interested in New York during WWII. It is meticulously researched and includes a ton of really great pictures. There's even one with a kid wearing a Mickey Mouse gas mask!
I'm 54 and from Brooklyn so this story holds a special place in my heart as I wonder what it was like for my parents back then. Now I feel like I have a much better understanding of that time.
And of course, there are many parallels between the New York of yesterday and the New York today especially after the World Trade Centers were destroyed. It seems to me that we were much better prepared for an attack during that time then we are today. I hope the powers-that-be will read this book.
Ms. Diehl, bravo on a job well done. I will read your other books.
Howie
The Big Apple at war June 1, 2010
Frank J. Konopka (Shamokin, PA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a fascinating book that has a tremendous number of photos that adds greatly to the reader's enjoyment of it. The writing is sprightly, but the book conveys the sense of fear and peril that many New Yorkers felt, at least at the beginning of the war. This fear was fueled by the hystrionics of Mayor LaGuardia, who constantly spoke about almost imminent attack on the city. In his defense, however, he did ensure that the city's civil defense areas were up to date and ready for anything.
There are many different stories in this book, quite a few in the words of the folks who lived through those times. I really enjoyed reading about some of the things that happened and some of the famous (and not so famous) people who were involved in the city during the war years. The photos really helped to put me "in the picture" (so to speak), as they are often the best way to represent what went on, rather than just words on a page.
This book told me many things I had not known before about folks at home during the war, and although the big city life was vastly different from that in small towns, the fear and determination to succeed and win the war was universal. Read the book; I'm sure you'll enjoy it as much as I did.
Fascinating reading for any New York or World War II general reader May 14, 2010
Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA)
OVER HERE! NEW YORK CITY DURING WORLD WAR II provides a blend of social and military history in considering the powerful connections between New York City and World War II. It was the hub of wartime activity as soldiers departed, Germans launched attacks in New York harbor, and war experiences changed the psyche and culture of the city itself. Fascinating reading for any New York or World War II general reader.
Educational, entertaining, thought-provoking May 5, 2010
act3 (New York, NY USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
What a terrific book this is.
Over Here is beautifully structured with an ominous look at the Nazis in New York, and then the growing realization of the danger they (and the war) represent. New York's response to the threat of war is heartwarming and inspiring. The creation of the Bundles for Britain program is a great example - it even inspired a motion picture, Mr. Lucky, with Cary Grant. When America finally gets in the war for good the entire city becomes part of the War Effort from the shipbuilding in Brooklyn to the scanning for enemy U-Boats to the welcoming, entertaining, and sheltering of hundreds of thousands of servicemen. All the drama of the war itself is reflected in the reactions of the city and its inhabitants. Like all books about that period in history, Over Here becomes a real emotional experience - you root for the Allies and the city at the same time.
I kept thinking about another non-fiction book that had a similar effect on me - Seabiscuit Seabiscuit: An American Legend- an emotional roller coaster about a race horse.
Over Here is as exciting and as rewarding as that book proved to be with NYC taking the role of the horse.
Plus you'll find hundreds of little known facts that will start lots of interesting conversations. (The future rock empresario, young Bill Graham, for instance came to America with boatloads of child refugees from England at the beginning of the war).
I read it on my Kindle DX and I was pleased with the quality of the formatting and the reproductions of the many, many photographs. I'm glad I read the book and I'm looking forward to reading it all over again.
INSTEAD OF OVER THREE February 20, 2010
James L. Woolridge (Sunny Florida)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
We sure look through many a book about over there during the war, WWII, but with OVER HERE we get to take a wonderfully nostalgic look here, NYC. Lorraine Diehl is a wonderful urban New York historian with several books under her belt. This may be the best. We get a look at NYC as the war drums start beating, New York a city with Nazis marching and Jews arriving in flight. Take a look at the greatest city in the world go into war time mode and feel the rich history of the war from a different perspective. RECOMMENDED.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 9
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