State of War: A History of World War II in Florida

The first book to share the entire history of Florida’s involvement in World War II, State of War explores how the war transformed the state into a major hub of military industry and an important training base for ground, naval, and air forces.

Drawing on historic photographs, military archival data, and civilian reporting in newspapers of the time, Anthony Atwood explores Florida’s military history and geography during the war years. The state offered strategic potential in both its available space and its location near critical sea lanes. This unique combination made Florida the site of over 250 military installations and a launching pad for US military power around the globe. Florida was even a seat of war, serving as headquarters for the Battle of the Gulf-Sea Frontier against Nazi U-boats.

Atwood also uses census data to show how the demographics of Florida were changed by the war. Before World War II, less than two percent of Americans lived in Florida and the state was seen as a quiet, rural southern backwater. During the war there were more soldiers than civilians in Florida and the influx of people led to rapid urbanization. Atwood describes how hundreds of thousands of women helped build ships and aircraft and African Americans fought a battle in two fronts—to win the war against the Nazis and to win civil rights at home. 

World War II accelerated the state’s relationship with the military, and this book details the war’s lasting impacts. In addition to the airports and other infrastructure built during wartime, Florida remains an important part of military operations. Florida is now the base of three unified combatant commands of the US Department of Defense and is home to the third largest population of veterans in the nation.