A J Baime

The Arsenal of Democracy: Fdr, Detroit, and an Epic Quest to Arm an America at War A J Baime

Publisher Marketing: 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 listeners with a vivid new portrait of America and Detroit during the war." Review Citations: Publishers Weekly 03/24/2014 (EAN 9780547719283, Hardcover) Booklist 05/01/2014 pg. 75 (EAN 9780547719283, Hardcover) Kirkus Reviews 05/15/2014 (EAN 9780547719283, Hardcover) Shelf Awareness 06/06/2014 (EAN 9780547719283, Hardcover) New York Times Book Review 07/06/2014 pg. 11 (EAN 9780547719283, Hardcover) Contributor Bio:  Baime, A J A. J. Baime is the author of Go Like Hell: Ford, Ferrari, and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans, which was optioned for film by Twentieth Century Fox. A longtime magazine editor and journalist, he is currently a regular contributor to the Wall Street Journal and an editor at large at Playboy. He lives in Chicago. For more information, visit www.ajbaime.com. To contact the author, visit Facebook.com/ ajbaime. Contributor Bio:  Berkrot, Peter A veteran of stage and screen, Peter Berkrot's career spans four decades. Highlights include feature roles in Caddyshack and Showtime's Brotherhood, and appearances on America's Most Wanted and Unsolved Mysteries. His voice can be heard on television, radio, video games, documentaries and industrials. Peter has recorded a number of audiobooks, including three by Peter Hessler. Other favorite titles include The Wood; English, August; The Fifth Vial; American Brutus; Better; and Some Sort of Epic Grandeur.