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Launching Liberty: The Epic Race to Build the Ships That Took America to War
Author(s): Doug Most (Author)
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster
- Publication Date: August 19, 2025
- Language: English
- Print length: 464 pages
- ISBN-10: 1668017784
- ISBN-13: 9781668017784
Book Description
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With the shadow of war looming large over American life in 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt knew it wasn’t a matter of if the United States would be pulled into battle, but when. He foresaw a “new kind of war,” one that would demand the nation be prepared in ways like never before. America’s most critical need in preparation was not drafting more soldiers or manufacturing more guns. It was building more ships that could carry enormous supplies of weapons, vehicles, medical gear, food, and clothing to US and allied troops around the world. One ship could feed three million men for a day—an entire fleet could sustain troops for years. Launching Liberty tells the remarkable story of how FDR partnered with private businessmen to build 3,000 vital cargo freighters longer than a football field—ships he affectionately dubbed “ugly ducklings.” To lead its emergency ship-building operation, the government turned to Henry Kaiser, who had delivered the Boulder Dam ahead of schedule and was beginning to revolutionize healthcare for workers—but who had never built a ship in his life. Kaiser led the way in creating a network of shipyards from coast to coast and recruited tens of thousands of workers eager to help protect their country and carry America to victory on board the Liberty ships. Launching Liberty is a tapestry of voices reflecting the diverse American experience of World War II. From the halls of the White House to the cramped quarters of half-finished cargo ships, we hear from naval architects, welders, nurses, engineers, daycare providers, and mothers balancing family life with the demands of wartime economy. As union tensions rose, tired prejudices toward working women and people of color came crashing down, giving rise to Rosie the Riveter and her cousin Wendy the Welder. This book uncovers the inspiring, untold stories of those who rose to the challenge, to protect not only their freedom, but their country’s democracy.
Editorial Reviews
Review
Wall Street Journal: History buffs will find his book enjoyable . . . [Most] vividly describes a great accomplishment . . . . Launching Liberty offers a stirring story. (August 2025)
“Richly researched and ceaselessly captivating, Launching Liberty brings to life the overlooked story of an industrial miracle that proved essential in winning the war against Nazi Germany. Doug Most gives us a timely and much needed reminder of what the United States can achieve when government, titans of commerce and ordinary citizens join together in common cause and an urgent spirit of determination.” —
Martin Baron, author of Collision of Power: Trump, Bezos, and The Washington Post, former editor of The Washington Post“More than anything, Launching Liberty is the story of how to get tough things done—not always pretty, rarely perfect, but an achievement over daunting challenges, nonetheless. Doug Most skillfully delivers a tribute to American know-how and provides an instructive account of how America at all levels responded to crisis.” —
Walter R. Borneman Author of The Admirals: Nimitz, Halsey, Leahy and KingIn Launching Liberty, Doug Most has brilliantly illuminated an important and undervalued step in how America prepared for its fight against fascism.—
David Maraniss is a New York Times bestselling author and associate editor at The Washington Post“In Launching Liberty, Doug Most reminds us of who we used to be—and who we can still be again. This is a stunning story of American grit and ingenuity against all odds.” —
Keith O’Brien, New York Times bestselling author of Charlie Hustle and Fly Girls“Doug Most’s book may look like it’s about ships, but it’s really about people—larger than life characters like Henry Kaiser and Franklin Roosevelt, attempting to achieve the impossible, in a world on the brink. Launching Liberty has all the setup for a Hollywood film. Which it probably will be. It’s a well-reported and meaningful book that should be on every history buff’s bookshelf.” —
AJ Baime, best-selling author of Arsenal of Democracy, Go Like Hell, and The Accidental President.“Launching Liberty is the dual biography of two of the most important figures of World War II: the Liberty ship, which was built by the thousands to carry the fight to the enemy; and Henry J. Kaiser, the unexpected industrialist who made this great fleet possible. Bravo Zulu.” —
Larrie D. Ferreiro, author of Churchill’s American Arsenal: The Partnership Behind the Innovations That Won World War Two“From the bestselling author of The Race Underground comes an electrifying tale of American ingenuity and World War II’s forgotten triumph. Through meticulous research and vivid storytelling, Doug Most brings to life the remarkable race to build football-field-length cargo ships faster than any large vessel had ever been built.” —
Neal Thompson, author of Light This Candle, Driving with the Devil, and The First Kennedys“In Doug Most’s masterful historical narrative, the ordinary folks who labored on the Liberty ships finally get their due. Especially inspiring are the stories of Black people and women — including Wendy the Welder — whose shipyard jobs often came with hostility and discrimination.”
—Susanne Althoff, associate professor, Emerson College, Boston; author of Launching While Female: Smashing the System That Holds Women Entrepreneurs BackMore than anything, Launching Liberty is the story of how to get tough things done—not always pretty, rarely perfect, but an achievement over daunting challenges, nonetheless. Doug Most skillfully delivers a tribute to American know-how and provides an instructive account of how America at all levels responded to crisis, united in common purpose, and accomplished the seemingly impossible. —
Historian Walter R. Borneman, author of The Admirals: Nimitz, Halsey, Leahy and KingIn Launching Liberty, Doug Most has brilliantly illuminated an important and undervalued step in how America prepared for its fight against fascism. —
David Maraniss, a New York Times bestselling author and associate editor at The Washington Post.Most injects a sense of urgency and humanity into what might otherwise be a niche topic, an approach complemented by the book’s organization into seven sections composed of short chapters. A tale of mobilization that is at its best on the nuts and bolts (and welding) of the Liberty shipbuilding program. —
Kirkus ReviewsFrom the bestselling author of
The Race Underground comes an electrifying tale of American ingenuity and World War II’s forgotten triumph. Through meticulous research and vivid storytelling, Doug Most brings to life the remarkable race to build football-field-length cargo ships faster than any large vessel had ever been built. Launching Liberty masterfully weaves together the high-stakes drama of U-boat warfare, FDR’s desperate push for industrial mobilization, and introduces us to the colorful characters who transformed shipbuilding from a year-long process into a five-day sprint. Both a celebration of American industrial might and an intimate portrait of the diverse workforce that helped win the war one welded hull at a time. — Neal Thompson, author of Light This Candle, Driving with the Devil, and The First Kennedys
