Book summary

Considered by many to have been one of the greatest ideas for the generation returning in large numbers from World War II, the G.I. Bill was intended to help make the peacetime transition disrupt the economy as little as possible. Soldiers were provided with home loans and education funds, along with other benefits: this jump-started the economy and transformed the American social landscape. Soldiers took advantage of the opportunity to start a new life and pursue the American dream; many of them married and moving to the newly created suburbs. Edward Humes explains the way the Serviceman's Readjustment Act was intended to work, and shares the experiences of many who benefited, including Jimmy Carter, Norman Mailer, and Paul Newman.