Reporting World War II, Part 1: American Journalism, 1938-1944 (Library of America) [Hardcover]

Library of America (Compiler), Anne Matthews (Compiler), Nancy Caldwell Sorel (Compiler), Roger J. Spiller (Compiler)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 1995

This unique 50th anniversary collection recaptures the century's greatest cataclysm and the brilliant generation of American journalists who reported it--nearly 90 writers, the best of a remarkable generation whose talent, sense of purpose, and physical courage remain unsurpassed in the annals of war reporting. Includes a detailed chronology of the war, historical maps, a glossary of military terms, and photos and illustrations.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This superb collection of some 200 entries by nearly 90 writers, drawn from newspapers, magazine articles, broadcast transcripts and book excerpts, recalls WWII campaigns and battles in all theaters but pays attention to the home front as well. It begins with an excerpt from William L. Shirer's Berlin Diary and ends with one from John Hersey's Hiroshima. Among the selections are the earliest report of genocide in Eastern Europe (NYT, June 30, 1942); A.J. Liebling's New Yorker piece on the relationship between the press and the military; several of Ernie Pyle's combat stories; Walter Bernstein's expose of a wartime "sin city" serving an army base in Georgia; and Roi Ottley's "Negroes Are Saying...," which covers wartime discrimination (the latter two are book excerpts). Readers will find many interesting pieces by writers not usually associated with war reporting: E.B. White's Harper's piece on a war-bond rally in Maine; James Agee's Time essay on the reactions to FDR's death; Helen Lawrenson's description of the Battle of the Atlantic. This is a treasure trove of war reporting, featuring writing of the highest order. Illustrated. 25,000 first printing; Readers' Subscription main selection; History Book Club selection.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

YA?A vast kaleidoscope of impressions in over 145 different articles and excerpts from books (including Bill Mauldin's Up Front and John Hersey's Hiroshima). Students seeking information on The Munich Conference can read selections by William L. Shirer and Dorothy Thompson; they can learn about the London Blitz from Edward R. Murrow; and about rescue at sea from Margaret Bourke-White. They will find Ernie Pyle, A.J. Liebling, or Roi Ottley among these multiple short, readable, primary-source selections. Journalism and history students can track both the war and American attitudes through these narratives.?Barbara Hawkins, Oakton High School, Fairfax, VA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 912 pages
• Publisher: Library of America (September 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1883011043
• ISBN-13: 978-1883011048
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #705,332 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Eyewitnesses to War, April 4, 2000

By 

Stephen Elderbrock (LeRoy, Minnesota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Reporting World War II, Part 1: American Journalism, 1938-1944 (Library of America) (Hardcover)

Back before all news came filtered through a television lens, hard working men and women travelled to remote locations and put themselves in harm's way to write eyewitness accounts of history for newspaper and magazine readers. This fascinating book is full of such accounts, from William Shirer's account of the 1938 Munich Conference (including his brush with a swaggering Hitler) to fascinating reports of the fall of Paris by A. J. Liebling and Virginia Cowles, to Edward R. Murrow's descriptions of war-torn but defiant London to Ernie Pyle's moving tales of soldiers in the trenches of Africa and Sicily. This book offers a unique glimpse into World War II by the people who were there, who lived through the extraordinary as well as the ordinary moments of that war. Included in this volume are incredible snapshots of the American homefront, including a report from a Japanese internment camps, as well as a "report on mass murder" in German concerntration camps by Ed Murrow in 1942, long before most Americans had any idea of the true horror of the holocaust. This volume explores all aspects of the war, and, as such, is an incredible historical document as well as a fascinating read. Highly recommended!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another treasure from the wonderul Library of America, April 9, 2005

By 

Craig Matteson (Saline, MI) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Reporting World War II, Part 1: American Journalism, 1938-1944 (Library of America) (Hardcover)

I am so glad the Library of America put together these volumes of reporting from the Second World War. Sadly, all those who were living during those years are leaving us all to rapidly. Certainly, the living knowledge of the events and times is fading fast. While we value the books great authors give us, we should treasure even more the writing given us at the time. In volume one we have reporting from great journalists starting in 1938 Shirer's article on the Munich conference that gave Germany the Sudetenland.

We get to follow the rise of Anti-Semitism in Germany with Kristallnacht, the fall of Poland and Paris. The London Blitz is covered by Edward R. Murrow and more and more. The United States doe not even enter the war until page 241 with the Herald Tribune's reporting of Roosevelt's "War Message".

The reporting also takes us into the Pacific and gets us down with those doing the actual work of the war including Annalee Jacoby's account of nurses under fire in Bataan. We get early reporting on the Japanese Internment camps and the Holocaust with the NY Times reporting in 1942 that one million Jews reported slain.

There is a section of fine photos of the reporters included and others in the text including some aerial shots from a bomber's point of view. This first volume ends with the Mountain Campaign in Italy in 1944. The volume also supplies a short, but full chronology of the war, some excellent maps, biographies of the journalists, acknowledgements, notes on the texts, and a glossary of military terms.

A superb job.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Remarkable First Hand Reporting, February 27, 2005

By 

Michael J. Muller "Adirondack Reader" (Queensbury, New York USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Reporting World War II, Part 1: American Journalism, 1938-1944 (Library of America) (Hardcover)

You can read history books and watch all of the redigitalized DVD's (movies) of World War II stories but the "best of the best" is right here in this wonderful compilation of first hand accounts from reporters who were on the scene and reported back to their readership when the events were actually occurring. It is fascinating to read what was reported at that time in history. This compliation is well worth reading. It also contains a great general biographical summary of all of the reporters who's work appears in the book. These were interesting people in their own right. I will use their biographies as a valuable resource for other additional readings.