Double Victory

A Multicultural History of America in World War II

By: Ronald Takaki

Narrated by: Edward Lewis

In Double Victory, a broad spectrum of American voices emerge to illustrate the various struggles and victories fought during wartime: a Japanese-American at an internment camp; a Native American code breaker using the Navajo language for the first time; a Mexican-American woman, "Rosarita, the riveter", who was able to work a job during wartime other than as a housecleaner or a maid.

Takaki also considers the racial biases that influenced important American government actions during the war, like the bombing of Hiroshima and the refusal to admit Jews into the U.S. Double Victory clearly demonstrates that World War II helped to transform American society and advance the cause of multiculturalism throughout the country.

©2000 Ronald Takaki (P)2000 Blackstone Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"[Double Victory] depicts, forcefully and clearly, the first steps toward an America that could be color-neutral." (Publishers Weekly)

And Still . . .

The racism and discrimination continues. You’d think we’d be over that by now. What’s changed in 80 years? Are we better people now? Depressing!

If you like history....

If you could sum up Double Victory in three words, what would they be?

Non-white men in WWII

Who was your favorite character and why?

I had no favorite character because all the characters were fun to learn about thire stories.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Edward Lewis?

No, the narrator was extremely slow and mispronounced some words.

Any additional comments?

This is not a good book for anything but a History class.

Stream-of-emotions attacks

The book seems to be aimed at pointing out all of the ways that the US mistreated, or was alleged to have mistreated, minorities during WW2. However, the approach is both ethereal and shallow.

The structure of the book is to float from account to statement to charge, without probing beneath the surface, or arriving at a distinct conclusion. Someone from a minority group says that the US is no better than Nazi Germany. There is no analysis, critique, or evidence provided to support or subvert the claim. The author simply moves on to another claim. I'm not uninterested in the subject matter. But I need more meat!