The Wounded Generation - by David Nasaw (Hardcover)

About the Book

"In its duration, geographical reach, and ferocity, World War II was unprecedented, and the effects on those who fought it and their loved ones at home, immeasurable. The heroism of the men and women who won the war may be well documented, but we know too little about the pain and hardships the veterans endured upon their return home. As historian David Nasaw makes evident in his masterful recontextualization of these years, the veterans who came home to America were not the same people as those who had left for war, and the nation to which they returned was not the one they had left behind. Contrary to the prevailing narratives of triumph, here are the largely unacknowledged realities that the veterans-and the nation-faced which radically reshaped our understanding of this era as a bridge to today. In The Wounded Generation, Nasaw tells the indelible stories of the veterans and their loved ones as they confronted the aftershocks of World War II. Veterans suffering from recurring nightmares, uncontrollable rages, and social isolation were treated by doctors who had little understanding of PTSD. They were told that they were suffering from nothing more than battle fatigue and that time would cure it. When their symptoms persisted, they were given electro-shock treatments and lobotomies, while the true cause of their distress would remain undiagnosed for decades to come. Women who had begun working outside the home were pressured to revert to their prewar status as housewives dependent on their husbands. Returning veterans and their families were forced to double up with their parents or squeeze into overcrowded, substandard shelters as the country wrestled with a housing crisis. Divorce rates doubled. Alcoholism was rampant. Racial tensions heightened as white southerners resorted to violence to sustain the racial status quo. To ease the veterans' readjustment to civilian life, Congress passed the GI Bill, but Nasaw reveals how black veterans were disproportionately denied their benefits, and how the consequences of this discrimination would endure long after the war was won. In this richly textured examination, Nasaw presents a complicated portrait of those who brought the war home with them, among whom were the period's most influential political and cultural leaders, including John F. Kennedy, Robert Dole, and Henry Kissinger; J. D. Salinger and Kurt Vonnegut; Harry Belafonte and Jimmy Stewart. Drawing from veterans' memoirs, oral histories, and government documents, Nasaw illuminates a hidden chapter of American history-one of trauma, resilience, and a country in transition"--Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

From award-winning and bestselling author David Nasaw, a brilliant re-examination of post-World War II America that looks beyond the victory parades and into the veterans'--and nation's--unhealed traumas

In its duration, geographical reach, and ferocity, World War II was unprecedented, and the effects on those who fought it and their loved ones at home, immeasurable. The heroism of the men and women who won the war may be well documented, but we know too little about the pain and hardships the veterans endured upon their return home. As historian David Nasaw makes evident in his masterful recontextualization of these years, the veterans who came home to America were not the same people as those who had left for war, and the nation to which they returned was not the one they had left behind. Contrary to the prevailing narratives of triumph, here are the largely unacknowledged realities the veterans--and the nation--faced that radically reshaped our understanding of this era as a bridge to today.

The Wounded Generation tells the indelible stories of the veterans and their loved ones as they confronted the aftershocks of World War II. Veterans suffering from recurring nightmares, uncontrollable rages, and social isolation were treated by doctors who had little understanding of PTSD. They were told that they were suffering from nothing more than battle fatigue and that time would cure it. When their symptoms persisted, they were given electro-shock treatments and lobotomies, while the true cause of their distress would remain undiagnosed for decades to come. Women who had begun working outside the home were pressured to revert to their prewar status as housewives dependent on their husbands. Returning veterans and their families were forced to double up with their parents or squeeze into overcrowded, substandard shelters as the country wrestled with a housing crisis. Divorce rates doubled. Alcoholism was rampant. Racial tensions heightened as White southerners resorted to violence to sustain the racial status quo. To ease the veterans' readjustment to civilian life, Congress passed the GI Bill, but Black veterans were disproportionately denied their benefits, and the consequences of this discrimination would endure long after the war was won.

In this richly textured examination, Nasaw presents a complicated portrait of those who brought the war home with them, among whom were the period's most influential political and cultural leaders, including John F. Kennedy, Robert Dole, and Henry Kissinger; J. D. Salinger and Kurt Vonnegut; Harry Belafonte and Jimmy Stewart. Drawing from veterans' memoirs, oral histories, and government documents, Nasaw illuminates a hidden chapter of American history--one of trauma, resilience, and a country in transition.

Review Quotes

"Nasaw challenges us to rethink World War II's domestic impact in The Wounded Generation. Bestowing a new name on the 'greatest generation, ' he excavates the war's consequences for 'the bodies, hearts and minds of those who fought, those who awaited their return and the nation that had won the war but had now to readjust to peace.' Nasaw deftly explores the ambivalent legacy of a war that Americans have been taught to think of as the good one . . . [He] eloquently humanizes the story of an entire generation." --New York Times Book Review

"While it was a war that had to be fought, and one with a successful outcome, World War II wasn't as good as all that, according to David Nasaw's The Wounded Generation. Tom Brokaw called the men and women who fought in World War II 'the greatest generation.' Turns out this same generation may also have been the most put upon and longest suffering . . . PTSD is only one among an Iliad of woes suffered by those who served in combat in World War II and their families who remained stateside. Mr. Nasaw chronicles them all in great detail . . . As David Nasaw's The Wounded Generation makes emphatically clear, a good war is an oxymoron. Just wars there are and necessary wars, but there are no good wars." --The Wall Street Journal

"The Wounded Generation is a minutely detailed and meticulously documented tour--and an unsparing one--of America's World War II and its aftermath . . . I came away from Nasaw's 400 pages with more rather than less admiration for the men and women of World War II individually--but it's an admiration now tempered with a far deeper understanding of the systemic roadblocks the nation, its prejudices, and its ambitions put in their way." --The Nation

"In The Wounded Generation, the acclaimed social historian takes a scalpel to our collective wistfulness and finds something much more nuanced, messier, and sadder underneath. Trauma, disorientation, and societal neglect marked the return home of the warriors, leaving wounds--both visible and invisible--that would shape their lives for decades. Nasaw shows that coming home was rarely the triumphant return we collectively imagine . . . This is a book about the demons, afflictions, and inequality caused or amplified by a war that resulted in the caricaturing of World War II veterans by a public hungry for heroes. Nasaw employed a variety of primary and secondary sources, and his scope in subject matter is wide." --Air Mail

"Best-selling historian [David] Nasaw deepens the usual approach to WWII's Greatest Generation by examining the real-world costs and sacrifices made by veterans, their families, and society at large . . . Richly informative and compelling, The Wounded Generation is an important history of the tragedies of war and the triumphs of a democratic society that fully supports veterans' well-being." --Booklist

"An eye-opening view of a war whose devastating consequences reverberate." --Kirkus

"Historian Nasaw provides a lucid investigation into the cultural impact WWII had on the U.S., primarily via returned veterans, who came home as deeply changed men . . . PTSD was little understood, and Nasaw extensively examines the impact experiences of violence, deprivation, and horror had on returned soldiers, but he also digs far beyond the untreated trauma. Most fascinatingly--and contrary to the more popular images of the Greatest Generation's stoicism--he surfaces a liberatory strain of thought and feeling that permeated the veterans' worldview . . . [The Wounded Generation is] an expansive redefining of a generation." --Publishers Weekly

"Historian [David] Nasaw skillfully examines the effects the horrors of war had on veterans' attempts to rejoin society . . . Based on oral histories, correspondence, service newspapers, and governmental reports, this well-written account highlights one of the little-known and forgotten stories of postwar America." --Library Journal (starred review)

About the Author

David Nasaw is a historian, two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, and bestselling author of The Last Million, named a best book of the year by NPR, Kirkus Reviews, and History Today, and, according to The Economist, one of the "six must-read books on the Second World War"; The Patriarch, a New York Times Five Best Non-Fiction Books of the Year; Andrew Carnegie, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and the winner of the New-York Historical Society's American History Book Prize; and The Chief, winner of the Bancroft Prize. He is the Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. Professor of History Emeritus at the CUNY Graduate Center and a past president of the Society of American Historians. In 2023, Nasaw was honored by the New York Public Library as a "Library Lion." His father served in the Army Medical Corps in Eritrea during World War II.