Preparing for the inevitable: WWII Life magazine articles 1940-1941 For Sale

This collection of approximately 10 original LIFE Magazine articles from 1940 and 1941 documents one of the most consequential periods in American history—the months when the United States was still officially outside World War II but increasingly confronted the possibility that it could not remain on the sidelines.

Rather than looking back at the war after the outcome was known, these articles allow you to read the events as Americans were experiencing them at the time.

The collection explores the competing arguments over isolationism and intervention, the growing threat posed by Nazi Germany, America\'s military preparations, the fall of France, refugees fleeing Europe, and the debate over what role the United States should play in a rapidly changing world.

Among the subjects represented are:

• “Refugees — Children of Europe Are America’s Wards” — European children escaping a continent at war. 12-16-1940
• “Why Can’t Americans Believe in America?” by Raymond Clapper — an argument about America\'s responsibilities and future role in the world. 10-27-1941
• Charles Lindbergh — LIFE examines the famous aviator as a leading voice of wartime opposition and non-intervention. 8-11-1941
• Senate isolationists and the bitter American political debate over alleged wartime propaganda. 9-22-1941
• “Blueprint for Victory” by Hanson W. Baldwin — examining what would be required militarily to defeat Nazi Germany. 8-4-1941
• “Official German Poster Reveals What Nazis Think About America” — a striking look at Nazi propaganda directed against the United States. 7-1-1940
• “America Bares Its Weapons of Attack as the Time for Action Draws Nearer” — LIFE\'s look at America\'s growing military preparedness. 8-4-1941
• “Fall of France Wakes Americans to Their Nation’s Peril” — the stunning German victory in Western Europe and its effect on American thinking. 7-11-1940
• President Franklin D. Roosevelt\'s warnings as the United States confronted parallels between the current crisis and World War I.
• Roosevelt and Churchill meet at sea and draft a long-term program for the post-Nazi world—the historic Atlantic Conference that produced the principles of the Atlantic Charter. 8-25-1941

Together, these original pages provide a fascinating contemporary record of America\'s transformation from a nation deeply divided over involvement in another European war into a country increasingly preparing for the possibility that war was unavoidable.

Only months after many of these articles appeared, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 would abruptly end the American debate. The United States entered World War II the following day.

This collection would be especially appropriate for collectors of World War II history, Pearl Harbor, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, Charles Lindbergh, America First/isolationism, military history, Nazi Germany, political history, propaganda and original LIFE Magazine material.

All pages are original LIFE Magazine pages from the period. No reproductions.

A personal note: These LIFE magazines were saved bymy father, a World War II veteran who rose to the rank of First Sergeant andserved in North Africa and southern Italy, beginning in 1942, before returninghome in 1945. In his memory and in recognition of those who served, proceedsfrom these sales are donated to Fisher House Foundation, which supportsmilitary and veteran families their loved ones receive medical care. (Paymentsgo directly from your payment to FHF).