Old Glory: American War Poems from the Revolutionary War to the War on Terrorism [Paperback]

Robert Hedin (Editor), Walter Cronkite (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 4, 2004

This unique, comprehensive anthology gathers together more than two hundred poems about the American experience of war--narratives, meditations, elegies, lamentations, odes, tributes, and battle hymns--many of them classics. Written by soldier-poets as well as poets on the home front, they are deeply personal, reflecting love of country, sacrifice, tragedy, glory, and sometimes disillusionment or dissent. Arranged chronologically, virtually every conflict is included: the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Civil War, the Indian War, the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, September 11, and the present war in Iraq. Among the 140 poets are Longfellow, Wheatley, Dunbar, Bryant, Emerson, Thoreau, Crane, Dickinson, Melville, Whitman, Whittier, Masters, Bogan, Lindsay, Cummings, Eliot, Frost, Lowell, Pound, Sandburg, Bishop, Hughes, Levertov, Stevens, Williams, Bly, Creeley, Ginsberg, Harper, Paley, Rich, Warren, Komunyakaa, Weigl, and Collins. A major historical, cultural, and literary volume, Old Glory speaks from the depth of time as well as from the immediacy of our own moment.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A moving and proud book....truly one of the best anthologies I have come across in many years. -- Ray Gonzalez, Bloomsbury Review, September 2004

Hedin has taken on a mighty task...No other collection is as thorough as this; highly recommended. -- Library Journal, Louis McKee

It is hard to imagine a more appropriate, compelling anthology....Teachers and students should find many works for reflection and discussion. -- Anthony Pucci, Kliatt

About the Author

Robert Hedin is an award-winning poet, translator, and editor of seventeen volumes of poetry and prose, including The Old Liberators: New and Selected Poems and Translations. He is the Executive Director of the Anderson Center for Interdisciplinary Studies in Red Wing, Minnesota.

Product Details

• Paperback: 324 pages
• Publisher: Persea Books (July 4, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0892553103
• ISBN-13: 978-0892553105
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,695,699 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The legacy of American war poetry efforts, August 7, 2004

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Old Glory: American War Poems from the Revolutionary War to the War on Terrorism (Paperback)

News commentator Walter Cronkite provides the foreword to Robert Hedin's fine Old Glory: American War Poems From The Revolutionary War To The War On Terrorism, the first comprehensive collection of American war poetry presenting 200 poems from over a hundred American poets. The legacy of American war poetry efforts is established in Cronkite's forward, providing a fitting introduction to a literary legacy which includes narratives, lamentations, tributes, protests, battle hymns and more. The organization by conflict allows scholars to easily pick the section which applies to their studies, making Old Glory a pick for both leisure and scholarly audiences alike.