Captain America is one of the oldest and most recognizable superhero characters in American comic books. A flagship property of Marvel Comics, Captain America has entertained generations of young people since the 1940s. Perhaps no other costumed hero has stood as a bolder symbol of patriotic American ideals and values. Indeed, the history of Captain America can not be understood without attention to the history of America itself.

Captain America sprang forth from the political culture of World War II. In early 1941, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby created the character for Marvel Comics, which was struggling to increase its share of the comic-book market. As early as 1939, comic books had periodically featured stories that drew attention to the menace of Nazi Germany. Simon and Kirby, who were both Jewish, felt very strongly about what was happening in Europe under the Nazis and were emboldened to defy...