One thousand pages is a lot of pages. To attract a reader's interest a thousand-page diary must be that of a significant person, a good writer, and one who had first-hand access to other significant people and events. It would add to the interest if the diary could...
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One thousand pages is a lot of pages. To attract a reader's interest a thousand-page diary must be that of a significant person, a good writer, and one who had first-hand access to other significant people and events. It would add to the interest if the diary could tell us something about the author that we did not already know. The wartime journals of Charles A. Lindbergh do all of that - and more.
A diary provides a window into the past. It gives us a contemporaneous view of an observer to historic events. In the final analysis, a diary provides us with insight into both the events observed and the person who observed those events. This 1,000-page diary achieves those objectives.
Charles A. Lindbergh is known to most of us as "Lucky Lindy," a barnstorming pilot who made the first nonstop transatlantic airplane flight in 1927 and, later, was an outspoken opponent of American involvement in World War II. Lindbergh's wartime diary shows that he was much more. He was interested in the arts and literature. He was an excellent writer; in 1954 he won a Pulitzer Prize for "The Spirit of St. Louis." He collaborated in the invention of a perfusion pump, a medical device that was an early step in the evolution of open heart surgery. And as might be expected, he was highly skilled in the engineering aspects of aviation.
Lindbergh was uniquely suited to observe important events between 1938 and 1945. After the notorious kidnap-murder of his infant son, Lindbergh was hounded by the American news media to the extent that he moved his family to Europe where he was treated like visiting royalty. He was a depression-era cowboy, flying his private plane to high-level gatherings in England, France, Germany and Russia. Each country made it a point to showcase its development of aircraft. Germany was far and away ahead of the others in this regard.
As war in Europe became more imminent, Lindbergh returned to the United States and consulted closely with Army Air Corps General "Hap" Arnold, taking the rank of colonel. As international tensions heightened, Lindbergh resigned his military commission and became a spokesman for an organization known as "America First," which opposed American intervention in European wars, including the supply of arms and equipment to European countries.
When the Empire of Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Lindbergh tried to rejoin the military but President Roosevelt rejected the attempt. Lindbergh then became a consultant for Ford Motor Company and, later, for United Aircraft Manufacturing. In 1944, he was sent to the Pacific Theater of Operations to evaluate the Corsair fighter plane and the P-38 Lockheed Lightning. He flew approximately 50 combat missions against the Japanese, shooting down at least one plane. In 1945, Lindbergh conducted a two month tour (May-June) of Germany.
The organization of the diary is excellent. There are frequent newspaper headlines to keep the reader abreast of general developments in that time frame. Although I normally hate footnotes, the footnotes in this book are very helpful in identifying people and events of significance.
Two aspects of Lindbergh's character linger with me after reading his journals.
First, there is the inconsistency between a person who wants to influence the general public and, at the same time, dislikes the public generally and the public news media. Lindbergh recognizes this type of fault in other persons, but he cannot see it in himself.
Second, Lindbergh seems to gloss over the holocaust. It begins with his non-detailed pre-war comments about a "Jewish issue," and later Lindbergh details what he has been told are American atrocities against the Japanese soldiers in the Pacific Theater. There are also negative comments about American treatment of German civilians at the end of the war. We are left with the impression that all atrocities are alike, be they against armed combatants or part of a deliberate plan to exterminate unarmed members of the general public. One wonders who Lindbergh is trying to convince.
One also wonders whether the two substantial gaps in Lindbergh's diary served to obscure his views on this subject.
One thousand pages is a lot of pages. To attract a reader's interest a thousand-page diary must be that of a significant person, a good writer, and one who had first-hand access to other significant people and events. It would add to the interest if the diary could tell us something about the author that we did not already know. The wartime journals of Charles A. Lindbergh do all of that - and more.
A diary provides a window into the past. It gives us a contemporaneous view of an observer to historic events. In the final analysis, a diary provides us with insight into both the events observed and the person who observed those events. This 1,000-page diary achieves those objectives.
Charles A. Lindbergh is known to most of us as "Lucky Lindy," a barnstorming pilot who made the first nonstop transatlantic airplane flight in 1927 and, later, was an outspoken opponent of American involvement in World War II. Lindbergh's wartime diary shows that he was much more. He was interested in the arts and literature. He was an excellent writer; in 1954 he won a Pulitzer Prize for "The Spirit of St. Louis." He collaborated in the invention of a perfusion pump, a medical device that was an early step in the evolution of open heart surgery. And as might be expected, he was highly skilled in the engineering aspects of aviation.
Lindbergh was uniquely suited to observe important events between 1938 and 1945. After the notorious kidnap-murder of his infant son, Lindbergh was hounded by the American news media to the extent that he moved his family to Europe where he was treated like visiting royalty. He was a depression-era cowboy, flying his private plane to high-level gatherings in England, France, Germany and Russia. Each country made it a point to showcase its development of aircraft. Germany was far and away ahead of the others in this regard.
As war in Europe became more imminent, Lindbergh returned to the United States and consulted closely with Army Air Corps General "Hap" Arnold, taking the rank of colonel. As international tensions heightened, Lindbergh resigned his military commission and became a spokesman for an organization known as "America First," which opposed American intervention in European wars, including the supply of arms and equipment to European countries.
When the Empire of Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Lindbergh tried to rejoin the military but President Roosevelt rejected the attempt. Lindbergh then became a consultant for Ford Motor Company and, later, for United Aircraft Manufacturing. In 1944, he was sent to the Pacific Theater of Operations to evaluate the Corsair fighter plane and the P-38 Lockheed Lightning. He flew approximately 50 combat missions against the Japanese, shooting down at least one plane. In 1945, Lindbergh conducted a two month tour (May-June) of Germany.
The organization of the diary is excellent. There are frequent newspaper headlines to keep the reader abreast of general developments in that time frame. Although I normally hate footnotes, the footnotes in this book are very helpful in identifying people and events of significance.
Two aspects of Lindbergh's character linger with me after reading his journals.
First, there is the inconsistency between a person who wants to influence the general public and, at the same time, dislikes the public generally and the public news media. Lindbergh recognizes this type of fault in other persons, but he cannot see it in himself.
Second, Lindbergh seems to gloss over the holocaust. It begins with his non-detailed pre-war comments about a "Jewish issue," and later Lindbergh details what he has been told are American atrocities against the Japanese soldiers in the Pacific Theater. There are also negative comments about American treatment of German civilians at the end of the war. We are left with the impression that all atrocities are alike, be they against armed combatants or part of a deliberate plan to exterminate unarmed members of the general public. One wonders who Lindbergh is trying to convince.
One also wonders whether the two substantial gaps in Lindbergh's diary served to obscure his views on this subject.
