Rating: 
Summary: Opportunistic, relentlessly sentimental grab for elderbucks.
Review: Just in time, you might say, Tom Brokaw has produced the perfect bathroom reader for the older generation. A collection of short takes on individual lives that started out in WWII and went well from there, one can sit and read until drowned in sugar. The message is clear: this is the generation that fought the war, came home heroes, set up shop and became successful at everything. Available in large print and on cassette, it is targeted for the generation that, having putatively done it all, now want to sit and admire themselves.I would like to offer a modest corrective: this is the generation that brought us fallout shelters, fast food, theme parks, the Vietnam war--just a little one for the kids?--and the edsel. Furthermore, as the saying goes, they don't get it: They don't get it about ecology; they don't get it about population control; they don't get it about gays in the military; they don't get it about the importance of innercity kids, they don't get bluejeans, t-shirts, or the Rolling Stones. I am glad these people had good lives, of course, but I came a little later (1945) and I live in a different world from them. I can't wait for the day when I am no longer expected to vote for a WWII hero for President. We don't have to worry about Brokaw's book: it will reach its constuentcy and they will keep it handy. If they wanted to sell it to me, it would be on a CD.
Rating: 
Summary: The younger generation should read this book!
Review: After reading this book, I have more appreciation for my Grandparents generation and what the went through to survive and to build this country up to what it is today. Growing up in the 1980s and 1990s, you see a lot of waste and disregard for human beings. My generation has never been in a major war or anything close to resembling that of the Depression. We have all grown up in the "Me" generation and have had the pleasure of unbelieveable growth in our economy. At the same time we have regressed back to the days of the pre-1960s with "Political Correctness" - it has divided us more into groups instead of bringing us together as "Americans". Today, we do not understand the meaning of suffering. If we get into trouble we go to the Gov't (Welfare, bankruptcy, unemployment insurance, etc.) No one takes responsiblity for their own actions, there is always an excuse. People seem to give up today and not fight - an example of that is shown by the high number of divorces. It is easier to give up. If we allow ourselves to stay in this downward spiral, we will end up like Russia. We are already starting to slip - China espionage. We need to take the ideals of this generation and develop our children to have the same morals, ethics, integrity or however you want to state it, as "most" of these people in this book. If we don't we will continue to regress as a society. This book taught me that we should not feel sorry for ourselves, we have to work hard and make things happen, and we have to help those who cannot help themselves. However, we cannot police the world!
Rating:
Summary: He caused me to ponder
Review: I really don't like Tom Brokaw, the NBC News Anchorman. Although I have watched his career for more than 30 years, and recognized early on that he was going to one day occupy the top seat of his profession, I never really liked him. I remember hearing bits and pieces of his character and personal life over the years. Only two things are remembered of him at the moment; he likes the outdoors, and he is from South Dakota. Two things he has going for him. But I really don't like him. I was sent a package last Christmas. One I had been looking forward to receiving. Lots of good stuff in the package, and an unexpected item. In the bottom of the package was a book; "The Greatest Generation", and yes, you guessed it; Tom Brokaw wrote it. At least it was a first edition. Oddly enough, I had heard about this book. Some even said it was a pretty good read. That it paid tribute to a generation and a people that largely go about their business without accolades. Only now is their work being recognized. Only now are the sacrifices they made coming to the full realization of the generations that have come after them. So I decided to give Tom Brokaw a chance to impress me. Haltingly, I admit that I was somewhat impressed. By presenting this book to the public, Tom Brokaw has accomplished something of far greater value than to impress me, or anyone else, for that matter. What he did do was trigger the mechanisms that start us on the path of pondering. I have to give him that, even though I don't really like him. When I was finished with "The Greatest Generation", I put the book down and just stared at the air for a time. Slowly and ever so surely, thoughts of people exactly like those he wrote about in his book began to flow through my consciousness. A smile came to my face. Memories of the sweetest sort broadened the smile. And even though I was smiling, sometimes the smile was a sad one. Many of those helping to create the memories now flowing through me were gone. Dead. Their voices never to be heard again; their firm handshake never to be felt again; the probing look of their eyes, gone forever. No longer am I able to smell the rich smells of grandma's kitchen. Nor hear the big belly laugh of my grandfather. I am very pleased Tom Brokaw reminded me of their contributions, even though I don't like him very much. "The Greatest Generation" is an easy book to read. It oft-times fills you with pride when acknowledging the deeds and sacrifices of others. Of those that came before us. They did what they did because of a solid value system. A universal belief that right, equals might and will, no matter what it takes, be the victor, claiming the right to hoist the flag of human dignity, up the petard. I don't have to like Tom Brokaw to thank him for causing me to ponder.
Rating: 
Summary: Moving, thought provoking.
Review: I feel that if every American citizen read this book it would make a resounding social impact to the world which would make it a much better and happier world to live in.
Rating:
Summary: Reads like a 10 hour Nightly Newscast
Review: Tom Brokaw (and a squadron of 'helpers') produced a bombastic, windy book that is a disservice to the superb stories that he is trying to tell. The book is at its best when Brokaw lets the individuals tell their own stories, with a minimum of his commentary intruding. The peoples' stories are poignant, vivid, and worth reading. The problem is, you have to wade through Brokaw's creaking prose to get to the good stuff. Hackneyed phrases loaded with superfluous adjectives may sound OK when read in Tom's distinctive voice - but they do not read well. So - kudos to Tom on getting people to tell the stories. Rotten job of trying to package them.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Generation...Not very good book!
Review: Brokaw's limited journalism experience is evident, as is an obviously liberal bias. My parents both fought in WWII and survived. My mother was the first woman to fly 100 combat missions in U.S. history. A feat I did not learn of until I was a college student and discovered her citation and Air Medal. She described working in the Nursing ward at Mitchell Field in New York, New York and crying at seeing all the returning young soldiers with missing limbs, shattered souls and broken bodies. I don't think Lloyd Cutler's being drafted into the Army in 1944 and then using his Ivy League influence to avoid overseas assignment to D-Day was worthy of inclusion. Particularly since the young man who took his place was killed three days after the landing. While he and others mistakenly described themselves as "special", I find his biography shameful. Brokaw paints him as a man among giants and a leader of this Greatest Generation. He was an "insider" with access to power. But he wasn't a leader of the Greatest Generation. He only benefited from the sacrifices of it. Oh, and I forgot to point out. Brokaw takes every opportunity to ridicule the Republican Party, Conservatism and Faith. A worthy topic with worthy people, at least most of them. Too bad the writer wasn't up to the task.
Rating:
Summary: Insightful stories of an important era in our history
Review: would be one way to describe Tom Browkaw's collection of stories about the lives of a generation that have been underappreciated. Another way to characterize his book, however, would be to say that after reading it, we should all have a better understanding of why Memorial Day is a holiday. The lives that Brokaw chronicles for us are a microcosm of a generation that shaped the world in the 20th century. As someone who had a very limited understanding of WWII, I now feel that I have more knowledge of the sacrifices countless men and women made. The book was especially useful for giving parents some diverse examples human responses to adversity. Browkaw did an excellent job at making the spector of war become more personal for us all.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful testimony to the generation
Review: If there were no constraints of time or volume, all the people of that Great Generation could have been biographed, Thanks to Mr, Brokaw for ehat he was able to gather and publish. To the thousands not mentioned, including my Father and Mother, and their siblings who were so willing to set aside their lives, I am grateful.
Rating: 
Summary: Praising a phantom generation . . . ?
Review: I gave this book to my 81 year-old father, expecting him to enjoy the attention paid to his generation. His remarks, after he had read the book, included an observation that Mr. Brokaw highlighted only a small fraction of his generation. He wanted to know what happened to those that didn't make it, who went broke, who were fired right before retirement, who created the pollution nighmare, whose business practices of greed and avarice forced out legitimate competition, whose health was neglected by a system that provides healing primarily to those who can pay. He was curious about those who became incurably mentally ill, who fought in the war only to be haunted by "shell shock" for the rest of their lives, who were inarticulate, uneducated, simple people, betrayed by their ruthless politicians. In essence, Dad discovered that, by highlighting only the over-achievers, the cream of the crop, this book creates a mythical people with whom he had little familiarity. Perhaps by dint of his milieu in TV journalism, which notoriously overlooks subleties of all kinds, Mr. Brokaw is unable to realistically portray this group of people, who are, and were, as diverse as any other group in our nation. Noticing that Brokaw leaves little room for other generations to excel, Dad also wondered why other generations are not as great. Perhaps this book should be classified as fiction, or even mythology.
Rating:
Summary: Did not live upto my expectations.
Review: Long ago I learned that disappointment is often related to expectations. So it was withTom Brokaw's book,The Greatest Generation.There was never a problem in putting the book down in as much as "The Book" is a series of news bites each lasting from 30seconds to 5 minutes, with little depth,as most news bites are.I have no doubt that Mr. Brokaw was emotionaly moved when he went abroad to the 40th anniversary of WWII D-Day in 1984. His well meaning tribute to the vetrans of WWII,chronical a number of men and women with whom he had contact over some 15 years as a news analyst. Each vignette describes their war record,how they dealt with the immediate post war period and their accomplishments afterward. The men and women frequently attribute their success to self reliance and leadership skills they learned in the service.Societal changes related to Blacks and Women are woven through his "portraits".The WWII vetrans later in life were certainly the generation that helped foster the changes and deserve credit. In general the book does begin to raise one's consciousness and honors the men and women who served in WWII.
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