World War II on the Air: Edward R. Murrow and the Broadcasts That Riveted a Nation [ILLUSTRATED] (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Alex Lubertozzi (Author), Dan Rather (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

With all the "embedded" hoopla, this informative and absorbing study of Edward R. Murrow and his fellow broadcasters at CBS gets back to sources. Bernstein (Grand Eccentrics) and Lubertozzi (The Complete War of the Worlds) give them the lion's share of the credit for inventing broadcast journalism during WWII, and they also document a formidable track record. Murrow himself was first on the scene, in prewar England and later the blitz. He appointed men like William Shirer, in Berlin, and Eric Sevareid, in France, to expand coverage, so that CBS was well positioned when the other radio networks ended European coverage in fear of violating the neutrality act. Sevareid had to get both himself and his wife and newborn twins out of a defeated France, while Shirer was replaced by Howard K. Smith, who barely got over the Swiss border at the time of Pearl Harbor. Less famous names include Larry LeSueur, who spent a year battling shortages, climate and censorship in Stalin's Russia, and Cecil Brown, who swam away from a sinking British warship. "Murrow's boys" (and one woman) also encountered conflicts with the "suits" in New York, including William Paley, president of CBS, and wrestled with the limitations of tape recorders and short-wave transmitters whose technology now seems neolithic. The narrative offers clear journalistic prose throughout, along with 72 well-selected photographs and a 47-track audio CD excerpting significant broadcasts. The authors' handling of the incidents the broadcasters were covering is above-average, backed by CD excerpts of broadcasts on the Anschluss, the invasion of Poland, the blitz, D-Day, the liberation of Buchenwald among other major events. The result is admirable history.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 8 Up-The authors admiringly describe how Murrow and his "boys" at CBS both covered the Second World War and created modern broadcast journalism. They draw on many primary sources, including several of the reporters' memoirs, to describe the dangers, technical problems, and censorship issues of the time. The authors begin with Murrow and colleague William Shirer's coverage of Hitler and prewar Europe, and then discuss how the network covered the conflict in Europe. In contrast, their discussion of the war in the Pacific is very limited. They also include one- to two-page biographical profiles of the correspondents, many of whom would become giants of broadcast news. The text is supplemented by an audio CD, narrated by Dan Rather, which has 47 clips from aired broadcasts. It can be listened to in its entirety as a documentary or readers can select tracks (identified in the text) that correspond with events being addressed. This book does show the challenges and importance of war coverage on radio, but it is short on general background and is occasionally dry. Norman H. Finkelstein's With Heroic Truth: The Life of Edward R. Murrow (Clarion, 1997) and Sounds in the Air: The Golden Age of Radio (Scribner's, 1993; o.p.) are more readable, research-friendly choices.
Mary Mueller, Rolla Junior High School, MO
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Sourcebooks MediaFusion (May 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1402200269
• ISBN-13: 978-1402200267
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 7.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #633,761 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Edward R. Murrow Reports From WWII London, June 11, 2003

By	L. Mayes (Rapid City, SD) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a unique and intriguing book which creatively captures the history of Edward R. Murrow and "Murrow's Boys." The book includes a CD containing 51 broadcasts just as they were heard live during World War II, with narration by Dan Rather. The text has symbols throughout, keying the reader to the CD track which compliments the written words with the voices of these brave men as they broadcasted from all over the world. The text includes concise profiles of the various members of Murrow's team: William Shirer (author of RISE AND FALL OF THE THIRD REICH), Eric Sevareid, Howard K. Smith, Larry LaSueur, Charles Collingwood, Winston Burdett and Richard Hottelet, among others. To those who remember WWII these names will be very familiar, and for those who do not, they tell the war's story with passion, intensity and professionalism. The authors have painstakingly researched the intricate details of how William Paley took the embryonic Columbia Broadcast System from a largely soft entertainment network to the premier news gathering and reporting organization which eclipsed all others during the war. The role Murrow plays in this evolution reveals a man of tremendous commitment to his craft, despite almost no previous experience in radio, with a great capacity for judging and selecting the others who became the critical reporters on his team. The travails of Murrow and the others as they faced death in flights over enemy territory, beach assaults and other combat assignments and suffered the tyranny of technological challenges with equipment strained to the breaking point make for great reading. The authors weave the complexities of personalities, politics, warfare and technology into a comprehensive and coherent book. The CD is haunting and chilling as these now dead voices bring back to the present momentous events which told America about the fighting of the war and the slow and painful process of winning peace just as they were happening. This book will be a superb addition to the library of any student of WWII and is also recommended for any reader who enjoys fast paced history in the making.

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great history, December 27, 2003

By	S. Lindhorst (Monroe, MI USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I read the Rise and Fall on the 3rd Reich in high school, and I had always thought of Wm Shirer as a historian - I had no idea that he was a reporter during the war, and had a unique seat and understanding watching the Nazi drama unfold.

Great book. You can really appreciate the difficulty of getting a live broadcast from Europe done in 1938, and how hard Murrow and company worked at it. There was no "press freedom" then, and the deference the press is shown today didn't exist then. They were a courageous bunch, Morrow's boys. And look at the roster! Murrow and Shirer, Eric Sevareid, Howard K. Smith, Charles Collingwood, and back in New York, William Paley was calling the shots and rooting Murrow on. What a collection of talent. Amazing.

The only irritating thing about it concerns the CD - why did Rather narrate it and not Walt Cronkite? Cronkite had front line reporting experience in WWII (was on the beach at D-day and made a jump with the 101st) and ended up working for Morrow after the war. Every time I hear Rather narrate, I have the feeling he doesn't deserve to be talking.

Otherwise the radio clips are superb.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More than 50 actual broadcasts, and an audio CD, June 19, 2003

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

Collaboratively compiled and written by Mark Bernstein and Alex Lubertozzi, World War II On The Air: Edward R. Murrow And The Broadcasts That Riveted A Nation presents the stories behind the implacable and courageous radio correspondents who brought the reality of war itself into living rooms across the nation for the first time in history. More than 50 actual broadcasts, and an audio CD narrated by Dan Rather, enhance this unique and very highly recommended look at World War II events and personalities as the home front experienced it through the medium of radio broadcasting.