Download Nothin' But Blue Skies: The Heyday, Hard Times and Hopes of America's Industrial Heartland AudioBook Free
THE TOP Midwest and Great Lakes region became the "arsenal of democracy" - the best manufacturing center in the world-in the years during and after World Warfare II, thanks to natural advantages and a welcoming culture. Ages of unprecedented wealth used, memorably punctuated by riots, attacks, burning streams, and essential oil embargoes. A captivating, quintessentially American persona bloomed in the region's cities, suburbs, and backwaters. But the technology and industry that described the Corrosion Belt also helped to hasten its demise. An air conditioner invented in Upstate NY altered the South from a sweaty backwoods to a non-unionized industrial competition. Japan and Germany recovered from their defeat to build fuel-efficient vehicles in the stagnant 1970s. The tentpole factories that paid employees so well also packed the air with soot, and poisoned waters and soil. The careers drifted elsewhere, and many of the people soon used suit. Nothin' but Blue Skies instructs the story of how the country's industrial heartland grew, boomed, bottomed, and expects to be reborn. Through the propulsive mixture of storytelling and reportage, celebrated writer Edward McClelland delivers the rise, land, and revival of the Corrosion Belt and its own people.
