Americans in a World at War

A vivid narrative of an ill-fated Pan American flight during World War II that captures the dramatic backstories of its passengers and, through them, the impact of Americans' global connections. On February 21, 1943, Pan American Airways' celebrated seaplane, the Yankee Clipper, took off from New York's Marine Air Terminal and island-hopped its way across the Atlantic Ocean. Arriving at Lisbon the following evening, it crashed in the Tagus River, killing twenty-four of its thirty-nine passengers and crew. Americans in a World at War traces the backstories of seven worldly Americans aboard that plane, their personal histories, their politics, and the paths that led them toward war. Combat soldiers made up only a small fraction of the millions of Americans, both in and out of uniform, who scattered across six continents during the Second World War. This book uncovers a surprising history of American noncombatants abroad in the years leading into the twentieth century's most consequential conflict. Long before GIs began storming beaches and liberating towns, Americans had forged extensive political, economic, and personal ties to other parts of the world. These deep and sometimes contradictory engagements, which preceded the bombing of Pearl Harbor, would shape and in turn be transformed by the US war effort. The intriguing biographies of the Yankee Clipper's passengers--among them an Olympic-athlete-turned-export salesman, a Broadway star, a swashbuckling pilot, and two entrepreneurs accused of trading with the enemy--upend conventional American narratives about World War II. As their travels take them from Ukraine, France, Spain, Panama, Cuba, and the Philippines to Java, India, Australia, Britain, Egypt, the Soviet Union, and the Belgian Congo, among other hot spots, their movements defy simple boundaries between home front and war front. Americans in a World at War offers fresh perspectives on a transformative period of US history and global connections during the "American Century."

Brooke L. Blower is Associate Professor of History at Boston University. She is the author of the award-winning Becoming Americans in Paris: Transatlantic Politics and Culture between the World Wars (OUP, 2011) as well as the co-editor of The Familiar Made Strange: American Icons and Artifacts after the Transnational Turn and volume 3 of the Cambridge History of America and the World. She is a founding editor of the journal Modern American History.

Preface Cast of Characters Maps Note on Names and Language Introduction: Into the Vortex Part I: 1914-1920 1. Balloon Work: George hopes to fight in France 2. Autumn Flies: Tamara survives civil war in Ukraine 3. Blood of the Earth: Harry learns the oil business in Romania 4. Tramp Trade: Manuel watches the Great War tear Spain apart Interlude: New York to Bermuda: Sully greets his passengers Part II: 1920-1939 5. Free Lunches: Frank competes in the Amsterdam Olympics 6. Unfinished People: Tamara struggles in the Bronx 7. The Silk-Stocking Revolt: George runs for Congress against the New Deal 8. Twelve Mile River: Ben falls in love with Roosevelt's Washington 9. Woman and Bird: Tamara finds fame on Broadway 10. Tea-Time: Frank moves to the Philippines 11. Stolen Soil: Manuel's schemes reach Mexico and Cuba Interlude: Bermuda to the Azores: Sully flies past the Point of No Return Part III: 1939-1942 12. Three-Minute Channel: Ben endures the London Blitz 13. Back to Porridge: Frank contends with the fall of the Netherlands 14. Ship's Stores: Manuel is arrested for smuggling 15. Easy Dish: Frank braves the invasion of Java 16. Red Mississippi: Ben reports from Russia 17. Hold Your Hats: George joins the army Interlude: The Azores to Portugal: Sully prepares for arrival Part IV: 1942-1943 18. Patent Denials: Harry manages his company's German ties 19. Dangerous Acts: Tamara volunteers to entertain troops 20. The Charter Offer: Manuel makes a bargain 21. Small Potatoes: Frank broadcasts from Australia 22. Acid Test: Ben witnesses the Quit India campaign 23. Hot Questions: George testifies before Congress Conclusion: A Strange and Frightening World Appendix: The Yankee Clipper's Last Passenger Manifest Acknowledgments Notes Index