9781422286036

A World Ablaze

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Chapter 1: A World Ablaze

I n autumn 1941, America was the last major nation at peace. War had spread all across the globe like wildfire. Armies fought fierce battles in Europe, Asia, and Africa. The world, it seemed, was ablaze. Most Americans didn’t want to get involved. They remembered the horror of the First World War. In that conflict, U.S. soldiers died on distant battlefields for no clear reason. Americans didn’t want to repeat

(Above) American sailors in a small boat rescue a survivor from the water near the sunken battleship USS West Virginia . The surprise Japanese attack on the U.S. Navy base at Pearl Harbor was intended to cripple the American fleet in the Pacific. In response, the United States declared war on Japan and its allies, entering the Second World War.