Description
The only available historical dictionary devoted exclusively to the 1940s, this book offers readers a ready-reference portrait of one of the twentieth century's most tumultuous decades. In nearly 600 concise entries, the volume quickly defines a historical figure, institution, or event, and then points readers to three sources that treat the subject in depth. In selecting topics for inclusion, the editors and authors offer a representative slice of life as contemporaneous Americans saw it - with coverage of people; movements; court cases; and economic, social, cultural, political, military, and technological changes. The book focuses chiefly on the United States, but places American lives and events firmly within a global context.
Table of Contents
Introduction; The Dictionary; Chronology of Memorable Events, 1940-1949; Appendices:; Wendell L. Willkie: Acceptance Speech; Joseph Stalin, Broadcast to the Peoples of the Soviet Union; Japanese Foreign Minister Togo Shigenori's Address to the Imperial Diet; President Franklin D. Roosevelt's War Message to Congress; Adolf Hitler's Declaration of War Against the United States; Benito Mussolini's War Statement; Ernie Pyle, Here Is Your War; Wendell Willkie, from One World; The Yalta Agreement; President Harry Truman's Announcement of the Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima; Justice Robert H. Jackson's Opening Speech for the Prosecution at the Nuremberg Trials; Winston Churchill's "Iron Curtain" Speech; President Harry Truman on the Truman Doctrine; George C. Marshall on the Marshall Plan; President Harry Truman's Inaugural Address; Eleanor Roosevelt on Human Rights; Judge Learned Hand on the Spirit of Liberty; American Historical Association Presidential Addresses; About the Contributors; Selective General Bibliography.
