The Good War

Infobox Book |
name = The Good War: An Oral History of World War Two


author = Studs Terkel
country = United States
language = English
publisher = Random House
release_date =
media_type = Print (Paperback)
genre = Military History, History
pages = 589
isbn = ISBN 0-394-53103-5

"The Good War: An Oral History of World War Two" (1984) is a telling of the oral history of World War II written by Studs Terkel. The work won the 1985 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction. It is a firsthand account of people involved before, during and after the war, challenging the prevailing notion that World War II was a time of unblemished national solidarity, goodwill, and unified purpose in contrast to the Vietnam War era.

The book mainly consists of interviews with people who lived the events that went from the beginning of America's involvement in World War II, Pearl Harbor, to the end.

Chapters

Book One

*Sunday Morning
*A Chance Encounter
*Tales of the Pacific
*The Good Reuben James
*Rosie
*Neighborhood Boys
*Reflections on Machismo - This section has an excerpt from Ted Allenby who is a columnist for Gay Life, a weekly newspaper.

Book Two

*High Rank
*The Bombers and The Bombed
*Growing Up: Here and There
*D-Day and All That
*Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy

Book Three

*Sudden Money
*The Big Panjandrum
*Flying High
*Up Front with Pen, Cameria, and Mike

Book Four

*Crime and Punishment
*A Turning Point
*Chilly Winds - Section with Telford Taylor among others.
*Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby? - This section has an excerpt from a conversation with a family of survivors from the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
*Remembrance of Things Past

Epilogue: Boom Babies and Other New People