Book · 2012 · History
Freedom's Forge
How American Business Produced Victory in World War II
- mentions
- 7
- people
- 7
- podcasts
- 6
- episodes
- 6
- recommendations
- 2
There's a book actually that that's very interesting on the kind of building of the war machine by the industrialists which won us World War II, no question.
What they say about it
- Industrial mobilization in World War II“World War II industrial mobilization”3
The best things said about it
A very popular book these days cuz and justifiably so, it's a great book is Freedom's Forge about the mobilization around World War II and the story of how our industrial base moved so fast to arm, you know, companies retooling themselves.
It's about the United States converting their, you know, industrial and commercial industrial power from making products that people would buy to making war materials.
There's this famous book Freedom's Forge, you know, talking about the ramp up of US industrial production during World War II.
Ben Horowitz The Ben & Marc Show · Sep 2025 I was reading a good book about World War II industrial mobilization in the United States called Freedom's Forge.
Where and when it comes up
Most mentions, by podcast
7 people who brought it up
Why people recommend it
Freedom's Forge by Arthur Herman is a historical account of American industrial mobilization during World War II, detailing how industrialists rapidly retooled commercial manufacturing to build the Allied war machine. On the a16z Podcast, Erik Torenberg recommended the book to highlight historical parallels between current industrialists and the builders of past defense capabilities. Erik Prince recommended it on The Shawn Ryan Show while discussing the massive scale of American manufacturing. On David Senra, David Senra discussed how the book illustrates the United States converting industrial power from consumer goods to war materials. Darren Farber recommended the book on Invest Like the Best as a well-regarded account of how industrial bases retooled quickly. On The Ben & Marc Show, Ben Horowitz and Brian Schimpf discussed the historical ramp-up of U.S. production, with Schimpf noting the two-year window of lend-lease used to retool industry prior to entering the war. Dwarkesh Patel mentioned reading the book on Dwarkesh Podcast while considering lessons from U.S. industrial mobilization alongside progress studies.
Every mention
Erik Prince there is a great book I read called Freedom's Forge so coming back to who really defeated the Nazis the Sov… 1
“there is a great book I read called Freedom's Forge so coming back to who really defeated the Nazis the Soviets did most of the heavy lifting”
Erik Torenberg There's a book actually that that's very interesting on the kind of building of the war machine by the indu… 1
“There's a book actually that that's very interesting on the kind of building of the war machine by the industrialists which won us World War II, no question.”
Ben Horowitz So a question, you guys alluded to this, but you know, there's this famous book Freedoms Forge, you know, t… 1
“So a question, you guys alluded to this, but you know, there's this famous book Freedoms Forge, you know, talking about the ramp up of US industrial production during World War II”
Brian Schimpf And the freedoms forge thing is quite interesting to me where we had about 2 years of lend lease to retool… 1
“And the freedoms forge thing is quite interesting to me where we had about 2 years of lend lease to retool American industry right like we weren't in the war but we had about two years to retool industry and that that seemed to be about how long it took.”
Darren Farber A very popular book these days cuz and justifiably so, it's a great book is Freedom's Forge about the mobil… 1
“A very popular book these days cuz and justifiably so, it's a great book is Freedom's Forge about the mobilization around World War II and the story of how our industrial base moved so fast to arm, you know, companies retooling themselves.”
David Senra I think we discussed this book called Freedom's Forge that I've read like twice and essentially it's about… 1
“I think we discussed this book called Freedom's Forge that I've read like twice and essentially it's about the United States converting their, you know, industrial and commercial uh industrial power from making products that people would buy to making war materials.”
Dwarkesh Patel Before the conversation I was reading a good book about World War II industrial mobilization in the United… 1
“Before the conversation I was reading a good book about World War II industrial mobilization in the United States called Freedom's Forge. I’m thinking back on that period, especially in the context of reading Patrick Collison’s Fast and the progress study stuff.”