Historical Dictionary of the 1940s

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.

James G. Ryan, Leonard Schlup

Part, Appendices; Chapter The Dictionary; Chapter Chronology; Chapter Wendell L. Willkie's Acceptance Speech; Chapter Joseph Stalin's Broadcast to the Peoples of the Soviet Union; Chapter Japanese Foreign Minister Togo Shigenori's Address to the Imperial Diet; Chapter President Franklin D. Roosevelt's War Message to Congress; Chapter Adolf Hitler's Declaration of War Against the United States; Chapter Benito Mussolini's War Statement; Chapter Ernie Pyle, from Here Is Your War; Chapter Wendell L. Willkie, from One World; Chapter Text of the Yalta Conference Agreement; Chapter President Harry Truman's Announcement of the Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima; Chapter Justice Robert H. Jackson's Opening Speech for the Prosecution at the Nuremberg Trials; Chapter Winston Churchill and the Iron Curtain Address; Chapter President Harry Truman on the Truman Doctrine; Chapter George C. Marshall on the Marshall Plan; Chapter President Harry Truman's Inaugural Address; Chapter Judge Learned Hand on the Spirit of Liberty; Chapter Eleanor Roosevelt on the Struggle for Human Rights; Chapter American Historical Association Presidential Addresses; Chapter Selected General Bibliography; Chapter About the Contributors; Chapter Guide to Contributors' Entries;