Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Random House [First Edition]
Pages
314
Description
A seventeen-year-old who enlisted in the army in 1941 writes to describe the Bataan Death March. Other members of the greatest generation describe their war -- in such historic episodes as Guadalcanal, the D-Day invasion, the Battle of the Bulge, and Midway -- as well as their life on the home front. In this beautiful American family album of stories, reflections, memorabilia, and photographs, history comes alive and is preserved, in people's own words and through photographs and time lines that commemorate important dates and events. Starting with the Depression and Pearl Harbor, on through the war in Europe and the Pacific, this unusual book preserves a people's rich historical heritage and the legacy of the heroism of a nation.
Description
In this beautiful American family album of stories from the Greatest Generation, the history of life as it was lived during the Depression and World War II comes alive and is preserved in people’s own words. Photographs and time lines also commemorate important dates and events. An Army Air Corps veteran who enlisted in 1941 at age seventeen writes to describe the Bataan Death March. A black nurse tells of her encounter with wartime segregation. Other members of the Greatest Generation describe their war—in such historic episodes as Guadalcanal, the D-Day invasion, the Battle of the Bulge, and Midway—as well as their lives on the home front. Starting with the Depression and Pearl Harbor, moving on through the war years in Europe, in the Pacific, and at home, this unique book preserves a people’s rich historical heritage and the legacy of a nation’s heroism in war and its courage in peace—in the shaping of their lives and of the world we have today.
Collection
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
314 p.; 10.25 inches
ISBN
0375505814 / 9780375505812
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User reviews
LibraryThing member PhyllisHarrison
Tom Brokaw is certainly a respected news anchor and reporter, but younger readers, and older ones as well, owe him a great debt for collecting and saving these very personal stories from "the greatest generation". Often the most difficult part of aging is losing those people with whom you can share
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your memories. Frequently participants in great events are reluctant to speak about their experiences, feeling they will be too graphic, or worse, uninteresting to others. When the last survivor has passed on, there are only the textbooks, written by the victors and edited through the eyes of those who did not know these times. They will have their own agendas, and too often they are limited in space by publishers to a sentence or two, if the event is not eventually discarded altogether. Tom Brokaw has provided humankind with a great service and legacy of his own by preserving the stories of eye witnesses. No matter how prejudiced their viewpoint or imperfect their memories, these communications are from those who were there, and they give us their eyewitness view as history was being made. If some of the stories are somewhat repetitive or long-winded, this can be forgiven, since it is better to have too much of a story than not enough. Pick and choose your stories or read the book cover to cover, but leave it to the reader to be the editor, as any great reporter knows. Show Less
LibraryThing member Schmerguls
5808. An Album of Memories Personal Histories from the Greatest Generation, by Tom Brokaw (read 1 Nov 2022) This book was published in 2001 and grew out of Brokaw's book on the greatest generation which I read on 16 Jan 1999. This book consists mainly of letters written by people after they read
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that book. The letters seem to be unedited and often are sincere but bland, though some are a bit poignant. I did not mind reading them but did not believe many were great missives. Some of what Brokaw himself wrote made me aware that he was born in 1940 and thus had no or minimal memory of the war, whereas I, born in 1928, was acutely aware of war developments tho only an Iowa farm boy, I had a brother in the Army all during the war--tho only in combat in 1944 and 1945--and we were avidly conscious of war developments and had cousins in war and sometimes in combat. Show Less
Awards
Audie Award (Finalist — 2002)
Call number
SOC H.600