A writer, reporter, and above all, a good listener, Studs Turkel has spent a career posing provocative questions and actively listening to the answers. In "The Good War", Terkel talks to Americans, both famous and obscure, about their contrasting, not always golden, memories of the war that shaped their lives, World War II. This first trade paperback edition of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book features a new Preface by the author.
The Good War: An Oral History of World War II
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle.
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
Studs Terkel, the noted Chicago-based journalist, gathers the reminiscences of 121 participants in World War II (called "the good war" because, in the words of one soldier, "to see fascism defeated, nothing better could have happened to a human being"). These participants, men and women, famous and ordinary, tell stories that add immeasurably to our understanding of that cataclysmic time. One Soviet soldier recounts that, surrounded by the Germans, his comrades tapped the powder from their last cartridges and inserted notes to their families inside the casings; Russian children, he goes on, still turn these up every now and again and deliver the notes to the soldiers' families. Terkel touches on many themes along the way, including institutionalized racism in the United States military, the birth of the military-industrial complex, and the origins of the Cold War.
Review
As in Hard Times and Working, this master interviewer again creates a turbulent epic of human experience by quoting the words of those who lived it. . . . A vivid resurrection of a lost time. -- Newsday
Deeply moving and profoundly important. -- Boston Globe
I promise you will remember your war years, if you were alive then, with extraordinary vividness as you go through Studs Terkel's book. Or, if you are too young to remember, this is the best place to get a sense of what people were feeling. -- Garry Wills, Chicago Tribune Book World
Incontestably one of the great human documents of all time. It has the essence and cumulative force of a hundred powerful war novels, without drawing on a single word of fiction. Among major historians Terkel is now in orbit all by himself, world class. -- Norman Corwin
Read this important book. -- Philadelphia Inquirer
Tremendously compelling, somehow dramatic and intimate at the same time, as if one has stumbled on private accounts in letters long locked in attic trunks...Mr. Terkel's book gives the American experience in World War Two great immediacy...In terms of plain human interest, Mr. Terkel may well have put together the most vivid collection of World War Two sketches ever gathered between covers. -- Loudon Wainwright, The New York Times Book Review
Deeply moving and profoundly important. -- Boston Globe
I promise you will remember your war years, if you were alive then, with extraordinary vividness as you go through Studs Terkel's book. Or, if you are too young to remember, this is the best place to get a sense of what people were feeling. -- Garry Wills, Chicago Tribune Book World
Incontestably one of the great human documents of all time. It has the essence and cumulative force of a hundred powerful war novels, without drawing on a single word of fiction. Among major historians Terkel is now in orbit all by himself, world class. -- Norman Corwin
Read this important book. -- Philadelphia Inquirer
Tremendously compelling, somehow dramatic and intimate at the same time, as if one has stumbled on private accounts in letters long locked in attic trunks...Mr. Terkel's book gives the American experience in World War Two great immediacy...In terms of plain human interest, Mr. Terkel may well have put together the most vivid collection of World War Two sketches ever gathered between covers. -- Loudon Wainwright, The New York Times Book Review
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Studs Terkel (1912-2008) was a free spirit, an outspoken populist, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, a terrible ham, and one of the best-loved characters on the American scene. Born in New York in 1912, he lived in Chicago for over eight decades. His radio show was carried on stations throughout the country.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
49 of 50 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a collection by noted author Studs Turkel of oral accounts given to him that relate to experiences in World War II. There are many of these vignettes, and they cover a lot of ground. Turkel has carefully gathered tales from combatants and non-combatants alike. Included in the latter category are reminiscences from Japanese-Americans who were placed in West Coast internment camps, conscientious objectors, "Rosie the Riveters", senior civil servants, wives of soldiers serving overseas, and workers in the Manhattan Project. As for the warriors, Turkel draws from both the European and Pacific theaters, and from various ranks in all of the military branches, and from several of the warring nations.
What I found most surprising was the significant degree of disappointment and disillusionment expressed by many of the interviewees. Far more of these people than I would have expected felt the war was unjust or unnecessary and that the U.S. should not have been involved, or, having been drawn into the conflict, that America was prosecuting the war foolishly and narrow-mindedly. A large number also state their contempt for the government in the post-WWII years and the dawn of the Cold War.
It is quite striking to see the pessimism and fatalism of a good number of the people whom Terkel interviewed, so much so that I wonder if the author was deliberately skewing his samples to adhere with his own beliefs. Indeed, it's not a mistake that the book's title is in ironic quotation marks; clearly, Terkel begs to differ with those who have held WWII to be a "good war". There is a distinct tone throughout that this was a war that was forced upon the American people, and that many opportunities for lasting peace in the aftermath were squandered.
Terkel has succeeded in rounding up people from all walks of life for inclusion in this collection. Some of the more notable names are Milton Caniff (the cartoonist), Bill Mauldin, John Kenneth Galbraith, W. Averell Harriman, Mike Royko, Pauline Kael, John Houseman, and Maxine Andrews.
While I found the significant strain of disgust and despair to be rather disquieting, this is nevertheless a book that presents a different view than the popular "Greatest Generation" tomes of recent years. It's certainly worth reading in these current troubled times, if only to get another point of view.
22 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
"The Good War" has had a profound on my perspective of history. I have always been a fascinated student of World War II, but Terkel's masterpiece led me to completely re-evaluate how I viewed the Second World War.
The book is somewhat deceiving because while it seems light, it is the exact opposite. Many of the accounts given by the men and women affected by the war are extremely powerful, and it is difficult to read through many of them in a row without having to stop and ponder their implications.
There is no doubt Terkel wrote this book to push his support of pacifism. While he probably edited the accounts to make his message more pointed, it does not really matter. Yes, World War II was "good" in that it was necessary to stop the Nazi war machine. But it was not "good" because no war can be good. World War II is often portrayed as this great event, but Terkel reveals the War for what it really was: vital for the future of the world, but devastating to millions whose lives were transformed by it.
"The Good War" is a lot of like "Flags of Our Fathers" by James Bradley. It is shows the amazing heroism displayed by people during the War, but at the same time vividly illustrates the horrors sometimes forgotten when people think about World War II. Make no mistake: I agree that the heroism of our vets during the war is unparalleled in history. I just think the book gives an important perspective that should not be ignored.
If you want to gain a new perspective of what many call the "good war" I highly recommend Studs Terkels' powerful book.
14 of 14 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The above quotation was on the quote page of Studs Terkel's 1984 book "The Good War." "The Good War" is an oral history of World War II. That's something Mr. Terkel excels at. His other oral histories include Hard Times and
Working. This is a must for anyone's World War II bookshelf.
Don't give it away no matter what. Keep it under lock and key
because it's so precious. If you read only one book on World
War II, make it this one. Unlike Band of Brothers, which is about a company in a regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, this book wasn't made into an HBO miniseries. Buy it now. There are fewer World War II veterans now than there were twenty years ago. Once they're all dead, it's a lost
resource.
Working. This is a must for anyone's World War II bookshelf.
Don't give it away no matter what. Keep it under lock and key
because it's so precious. If you read only one book on World
War II, make it this one. Unlike Band of Brothers, which is about a company in a regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, this book wasn't made into an HBO miniseries. Buy it now. There are fewer World War II veterans now than there were twenty years ago. Once they're all dead, it's a lost
resource.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
GREAT Read
I have never considered myself to be a huge history fan, but recently I realized that I knew very little about WWII beyond what I learned in my high school history class so many... Read more
Published 5 months ago by iheartevil
Great read
One of the best books I've read this year. Tons of different accounts and varied viewpoints from around the world, all the way from working class to pacifists to major players in... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Marty McFly
"THE GOOD WAR": AN ORAL HISTIORY OF WORLD WAR II
Great book. "The Good War" is easy to read and provides experiences that the disinterested reader can identify with by giving a more personal perspective. Read more
Published 7 months ago by PANDORA
Mr. terkel and the US
As a foreigner that did live and work in the US years ago, I must say that Mr. Terkel's view of his country is accurate, terse, objective, and portraits a great country with its... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Mario
Amazing
What an amazing book. I bought this with my bro in mind who loves World War II stuff, but when I started reading it I told him he'd have to wait. Read more
Published 14 months ago by John
Great history, shows less-discussed side of the war
A wonderful collection of oral interviews with men and women who participated in World War II, in all places and on both sides. Read more
Published 17 months ago by Ryan
Insightful way to see all the angles of the war
This book is a bunch of short stories, 10 or less pages each, from people who had some kind of experience from World War II. Read more
Published on June 26, 2009 by Lance Finfrock
SFT
The book arrived within a week. It was in very good condition! I would def. order from them again!
Published on February 3, 2009 by S. Towler
The Rank and File Of WWII Get To Speak
Strangely, as I found out about the recent death of long time pro-working class journalist and general truth-teller "Studs" Terkel I was just beginning to read his "The Good War",... Read more
Published on November 7, 2008 by Alfred Johnson
This is the best book on WWII
"The Good War" - Studs Turkel's 5th oral history - was published in 1984. Like most of his other books, this too was a "best seller". Read more
Published on June 21, 2008 by Rolland W. Amos
Inside This Book
(learn more)
Citations (learn more)
100
books
cite this book:
See all 100 books citing this book
- A Date Which Will Live: Pearl Harbor in American Memory (American Encounters/Global Interactions) by Emily S. Rosenberg on 6 pages
- The War in American Culture: Society and Consciousness during World War II by Lewis A. Erenberg on 6 pages
- Wartime: Understanding and Behavior in the Second World War by Paul Fussell on 6 pages
- Divided Arsenal: Race and the American State During World War II by Daniel Kryder on 5 pages
- Murder at the Sleepy Lagoon: Zoot Suits, Race, and Riot in Wartime L.A. by Eduardo Pagan on 5 pages
See all 100 books citing this book
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
![To Be Of Use: Chap. 4 Temperance [The Briarpatch Way] Resources](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51-rBQsXgkL._AA60_.jpg)
So You'd Like to...
|
|
