Indomitable Will

This is a unique look at how America during World War II gained strengths from early defeats such as Bataan or Corregidor. "Indomitable Will" resurrects the legacy of the first half-year of American combat during World War II - a legacy of pain, but not of woe. Historian Charles Kupfer recounts the story of the war's early defeats: Bataan, Corregidor, Wake Island, and Java Sea. Some of these battles remain evocative today; others are obscure; all were catastrophes for American arms. But, Kupfer asserts, later victories were made inevitable by the steeling effect of those initial disasters. Weaving together military, journalistic, political, and cultural histories, Kupfer argues that, by setting their collective will on victory, Americans in and out of uniform gained strength from their setbacks. "Indomitable Will" spells out how the nation turned early defeat into ultimate victory.