By Kevin Seabrooke
A two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, Nasaw takes an unvarnished look at the real America in the years after World War II—after the parades and celebrations—and how it affected those who fought and their families and how it changed our nation.
The social isolation, recurring nightmares and uncontrollable rages Veterans experienced was attributed to “battle fatigue” before the concept of PTSD was widely understood. Some were given electro-shock treatment or lobotomies. Across the country there was a housing crisis, women who worked during the war were reluctant to go back to being housewives. Alcoholism skyrocketed and divorce rates doubled. The GI Bill helped, but Black veterans were often denied their benefits.
Mining the rich resources of veteran memoirs, oral histories, and government documents, Nasaw reveals the hidden trauma, the true cost of war: the men who returned were not the same as those who left, and the America they had known no longer existed.
The Wounded Generation: Coming Home After World War II (David Nasaw, Penguin Press, New York, NY, 496 pp., Oct. 14, 2025 $35 HC)
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