Customer Reviews

Letters of the Century: America 1900-1999

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Letters of the Century is an eclectic collection of letters written during the Twentieth Century. Some are from or to famous people and others are from and to more common folk, but all are pertinent for one reason or another. Each letter has an introductory paragraph, explaining why the letter is important. Further, the letters are organized into chronological order, and as a bonus each decade has an introduction, covering important events and statistics. Finally, the book contains an excellent index.

At first glance, I didn't take this book seriously. However, once I began reading it, I was enthralled. The letters run the gamut, from angering to touching. It's hard to say more than that you need to read this book to understand it, and it is a very good book indeed.

Great bathroom read and it's thick enough (760 pages!) to count as a legitimate gift. All of the letters are interesting and some absolutely take your breath away (1934 letter from the head of the NAACP trying unsuccessfully to stop a lynching in Florida). Some are hilarious (Groucho Marx writing the Warner Brothers about "A Night in Casablanca" after they threatened him because of similarities to "Casablanca"). I've already given this book as a present to friends, relatives, and my kids' teachers (great gift to teachers!) and have heard nothing but raves. What a treat to find this meticulously researched and beautifully written jewel of a book. Letters of the Century definitely has "legs" (and a cute nose). I expect it to be on the best seller list for a long time to come.

If you love history this book will give you an idea of every day life from both the famous and the every day person. The letter from Jackie to Lyndon Johnson was especially moving as were the letters for Dec. 7 1944. This book truely shows how far we have come as a civilization and the importance of every man!

I originally purchased this book as a gift. I kept the book and then bought 2 more! What a wonderful history of everyday people and even very famous people. This book is not some historians own spin on what they consider important. Very personal revealing honest letters that expose you to human emotion unlike anything you have ever read. Reading this you will experience every feeling possible. The letter Jesse Helms wrote to a grieving mother will futher exposes him as the meanspirited clueless person that he really is. This book will not disappoint you. Do yourself a favor and buy it now.

Anyone with a genuine nose for gossip and history,this is the book for you. Not only are the historic letters of political and cultural fascination but the nature of the letters themselves, really let you in on a closed personal world. The act of transcribing events with only the one person in mind ensures that individuality and uniqueness are qualities most evident in this collection. The span of history that this book covers marks the most striking events of the century. It is a must for anyone with a serious interest in American history.

This book is a wonderful collection of stories from every year of the 20th century. The authors of the letters are famous people and ordinary citizens. These letters express every human emotion love, loss, triumph, joy, and hope. This book is a pleasure to read.

My favorite story is about a young woman writing to her best friend about her bad marriage. Her husband is physically abusive to her and her son. She yearns for the courage to escape and become an independant woman which she eventually does. Another story by a young man who actually survived the sinking of the Titanic He writes his girlfriend about his experience of getting off the ship and waiting to be rescued.

There is a letter by a woman in Hawaii to her brother in Ohio. She recounted witnessing the bombing of Pearl Harbor during World War 2. She recounts going to a bomb shelter and depicts the commaraderie among the people of the time.

There is a Dear John letter addressed to Ernest Hemmingway from a nurse who cared for him while he was wounded in World War 1 He loved her but their relationship was a mere fling to her. She lets him down gently. This relationship inspired Hemingway to write the novel The Sun Also Rises. There is another letter written by a young unwed pregnant woman in the 1930's seeking advice from a doctor. Her father has no knowledge of the pregnancy and her mother is dead. She has nobody to turn to and her desperate plea for guidance is very touching.

There is another poignant letter written by the sister of a Vietnam Vet who died from lymphnoma as a result of exposure to Agent Orange. She expresses her disbelief, loss and sorrow to an anti war group. There are several stories written by expectant parents to their unborn children. Each letter is filled with anticipation and hope. Buy this book. You will never be able to put it down.

I concur with most of the points addressed by earlier reviewers, and found this book to be one of the best about history that I've read. Many of the letters were eye-opening, detailing facets of America's history of which I was unaware. As an example, I found the letter detailing the My Lai Massacre both illuminating and horrifying. The letter from Roosevelt to 'The President of The United States in 1956' honoring the first American soldier to give his life in WWII is one of my favorites, along with the letter to the Warner Brothers from Groucho Marx that an earlier reviewer mentioned. A few additional thoughts:

1. The choices of letters from the 1990s were the weakest of any decade. I suppose that's to be expected in the days of e-mail, chatrooms, and the demise of the letter writer, but I'm sure there were better selections than one detailing the results of testing performed on the stained blue dress worn by Monica Lewinsky, or the letter to a Star Trek fan.

2. The majority of the letters related to negative aspects of the century, which while powerful to read made it a bit depressing to read more than 30-50 pages at a sitting. As the various forms of media have always realized, bad news makes for better stories than good news. I wish, however, that there would have been more letters evincing triumphs, humor, and/or optimism. Such letters were in evidence, but not in abundance.

3. I agree with an earlier reviewer that noted the liberal bias of the letters selected. There appeared to be an inordinate amount of 'coming out' selections and letters voicing disapproval of the System. They were important letters, however, that gave me a different view of the country's past.

4. One of my favorite history-related books is A People's History of The United States by Zinn. This book of letters reminded me of that text, required in a college history class.

Overall, I strongly recommend this collection to anyone interested in the history of 20th century America.

This is a great book. You almost feel that you shouldn't be reading some of it. Many of the letters are touching. There is a great diversity of material. I am surpised by how many different and interesting subjects are covered.

This is a collection of over 400 letters that attempts to summarize the century using such. It's a fool's errand, of course, but this is a valiant and fascinating effort.

Some of the letters are famous ones: Einstein alerting Roosevelt to the possibility of developing a nuclear bomb, Martin Luther King writing from the Birmingham jail, and Nixon's terse letter resigning the presidency. Others are less-known but still from famous people: Mark Twain complaining caustically about the inefficiency of telegrams, Charlie Chaplin ecstatic about his first movie contract, Bill Gates trying to discourage early software piracy.

And others are from and to obscure people while still being remarkably telling: an immigrant writing to his relatives about his new life in America, a Jewish woman writing of her experiences being captured and interrogated by the Nazis, a letter left at the Vietnam War Memorial, an erstwhile Compuserve user giving up on his connection problems when confronted with technobabble in response to his request for help. It's really a fascinating read, a hodge-podge of life across the century, from mundane domestic problems to the key issues of the day. My only complaint is that there's a bit of a liberal bias, with plenty of letters describing the hardships of the downtrodden masses and not a whole lot celebrating human ingenuity and accomplishment. But perhaps that is a telling point as well, considering it's a bias that has dominated this century.

I did not expect to like this book. I had avoided reading it for some time, thinking it would be dull, pedantic, not worth the effort it might take to read it, and generally unpleasant.

I am so glad I found out I was wrong.

It's actually enthralling, well-done, and a worthwhile addition to anyone's library. I am not generally fond of ultra-personal non-fiction, or of the twentieth century in general, but _Letters of the Century_ overcame all of my doubts. The explanatory paragraphs and notes are extremely helpful; the letters are generally of medium length, diverse in subject matter, and uniformly fascinating. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and highly recommend it.