On June 25, 1945, 14,000 American servicemen and women sailed into New York aboard the British liner Queen Mary. The city that awaited these first returnees from the victory over Nazi Germany stood at a historical climax of power, confidence, hope, and prestige, and yet remained still curiously innocent.
In Manhattan '45, one of the greatest contemporary prose stylists leads us down the gangplank with the returning GIs, and allows us to discover...