Winner of the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for best play of 1947, All My Sons is the work that launched Arthur Miller’s long and distinguished career in the theatre. While few would argue that it is Miller’s best or most important play, no one would dispute the fact that All My Sons deserves a special place in the playwright’s canon because it constitutes his first major theatrical achievement, displays his extraordinary skill in handling dramatic form, and presages even better things yet to come from one of America’s greatest dramatists.

The critical and commercial success of All My Sons marks a major turning point in Miller’s career, for it came at a time when the young writer was struggling to establish his identity as a literary artist. Having won several awards for playwriting while he was enrolled in undergraduate school at the University of Michigan, Miller continued to develop the texts of stage plays even while supporting himself by working at odd jobs and successfully writing radio plays for the Columbia Workshop (CBS) and the Cavalcade of America (NBC) between the years 1939 and 1943. During the next two years, however, several events occurred that both challenged his commitment to playwriting and advanced his career as a writer.