Reporting World War II: American Journalism 1938-1944 (Library of America)

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Summary: Eyewitnesses to War
Review: 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 This volume explores all aspects of the war, and, as such, is an incredible historical document as well as a fascinating read.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!