What was it like to experience World War II in small-town America? Here is the story of the war at home as it unfolded in one small town, New Castle, Indiana. We see through the eyes of the residents of Plum Street as families search for information about the progress of the war and the fate of loved ones in the censored accounts in local newspapers. We overhear everyday conversation up and down the street, in which the dominant subject is the news from overseas. The war finds its way into letters and diaries, which also record private fears and hopes, rumors and town gossip, and the wonderfully mundane events of everyday life.