Customer Reviews

Our Finest Hour: The Triumphant Spirit of America's World War II Generation

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Over 300 photos, illustrations and letters from the archives of LIFE Magazine, holder of the largest collection of WWII photos in the U.S. Many rarely seen. This collection was carefully chosen by the editors of LIFE. You see the faces and hear the voices of those who fought in the war and of their loved ones who sustained extraordinary efforts on the home front. It's a photographic essay of the greatest generation, shot by some of the best photojournalists of the time.

Forward by Bob Greene

There's something about a black and white photograph that has a timeless, ethereal quality. It's almost as if it's a vehicle to take you back into a better time, a grander time.

Such is the case with "Our Finest Hour", a collection of black and white photographs from the pages of Life Magazine. All the photos were taken during what was likely America's grandest, most noble, time of all, World War Two.

Some of the master photographers are represented in this book, including Alfred Eisenstaedt and W. Eugene Smith. The images are extraordinary. Examples include a photo by Eisenstaedt of a sailor on furlough, chatting with two grizzled elderly men - all three sitting on a cannon in a city park; and classic pictures of the hell of combat on the barren, smoldering landscape of Iwo Jima taken by W. Eugene Smith.

The quality is no surprise. If it's from Life Magazine, you expect the best, and the tradition continues. The book is well organized with helpful text and narrative, beginning with Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and ending with soldiers coming home to their families, friends, lovers and a grateful country in 1945. The reproduction of the photos is superb.

"Our Finest Hour" represents photojournalism at its finest. It's art. It's history. It's fabulous.

My grandfather is the man who's photo is first in this book. He's pointing to the bullet hole in his P-38. It was such a shock to pick up a copy of this book, open it, and see my beloved grandfather on the first page. The rest of the book is just as wonderful! A great piece of history.

Life has always excelled at getting great pictures of our society and this is the case with this book. There is some minimal writing to complement this book, but it is mainly a picture book, and a brief one at that. The pictures are great but there is not a lot of meat to this book.
For those interested in visiting the past through pictures, this is a great book. For those interested in trying to understand this period in the life of America, one will need to try elsewhere for a better book.