Four Freedoms-John Crowley

Four Freedoms
John Crowley
Ecco, May 2009, $25.99
ISBN: 9780061231506

In the early days of WW II, FDR orders production companies to manufacture the weapons needed to fight the Nazis and their axis partners. In Ponca City, Oklahoma, brothers Henry and Julius Van Damme establish an airplane factory to build the B-30 Pax, America's largest warplane

However, the siblings know there biggest handicap is finding experienced workers as most are in the military. They feel fortunate to hire Prosper Olander whose 4F due to a severe curvature of the spine kept him out of the war. The brothers also are pleased with employing street corner philosopher Pancho Notzing; whose religious fervor encourages all types of people to be all they can be but do so while living in a Harmonious City regardless of race, religion, ethnic background as he claims we are all humans and must share and support one another. The brothers also hire enthusiastic women who will accept working blue collar jobs away from home; most have never turned a screw or hammered a nail and few ventured more than a few miles from their family house. Still they come from all parts of the country with various backgrounds to learn how to build the plane and then mass produce the bomber.

This is a terrific WW II saga that obviously tells the tale of life and relationships while mass producing the war machine. However, the subtly thrilling profound story line also implies through the strong cast that this setting all over the country led to future generations of the disenfranchised demanding the same Constitutional FOUR FREEDOMS that FDR said were in jeopardy by the Nazis. Prosper sets the tone with his uplifting “sermons”, but the entire ensemble shows why this is considered the “Greatest generation”.

Harriet Klausner