"As I Remember: A 1940s Childhood" is a delightful vignette of a home front during and just after World War II. Gordon Chism has captured the texture of American pride and optimism of this time through the eyes of a young boy growing up in Reno, Nevada. The war had united all in a common cause with a sense of duty and a love of country. The triumph over evil created a righteous sense of entitlement -- an idealistic American self-portrait. From the anxiety brought on by the depression through the surging prosperity of the late 1940s, this autobiographical narrative reflects the feelings of...