The New York Times Living History: World War II, 1942-1945: The Allied Counteroffensive - Hardcover

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9780805072471: The New York Times Living History: World War II, 1942-1945: The Allied Counteroffensive

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0805072470 ISBN 13: 9780805072471

Publisher: Times Books, 2004

World War II comes alive through the public records and private accounts of the day

We have long relied on historians to sift through the debris of the past and piece together narratives to shape our understanding of events. But it is in the letters, diaries, speeches, song lyrics, newspaper articles, and government papers that history truly comes alive.

Eminent historian Douglas Brinkley has carefully chosen the critical documents that bring to life the days of the war from the first Allied counteroffensive to V-J Day. His selections span the momentous, such as Eisenhower’s address to the troops in preparation for D-Day or Hirohito’s surrender on Japanese radio, to the intimate and the obscure. Readers will find one of Tokyo Rose’s broadcasts, letters from soldiers on the eve of battle, Ernie Pyle’s dispatches from Sicily, and Truman’s diary entries in which he wrestles with the decision to drop the A-bomb.

Each primary document is accompanied by a relevant piece of New York Times reporting from the period and original text explaining the historical significance of the event in the war’s progress. News photos and other images add a strong visual component to this vivid re-creation of history.

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About the Author:

Douglas Brinkley is the director of the Eisenhower Center for American Studies at the University of New Orleans, where he is also a distinguished professor of history. He is the author and editor of numerous books on the presidency and U.S. history, including biographies of Rosa Parks and Jimmy Carter. He lives in New Orleans, Louisianna.

From Booklist:

This sequel to World War II: The Axis Assault, 1939-42 [BKL O 1 03] begins as the global strategic initiative passed to the Allies. As before, each event is relayed through documents consisting of a New York Times article published when the event occurred, an eyewitness account, and a photograph or two. In all, 52 events are covered, opening with sketchy reportage of an American victory at Midway Atoll, paired with a Japanese officer's graphic memoir of his aircraft carrier's destruction, and continuing through to the suicide of Hitler and the war's cataclysmic crescendo in the nuclear bombings of Japan. Combat is not the editors' exclusive focus: some items pertain to a Nazi murder campaign of scarcely believable enormity, and others to the war's ramifications for American society, as in the Detroit racial riots of 1943. Together, the news and documentary selections recover the war's brutal realness, and will be an anchor in any basic collection of WWII material. Gilbert Taylor
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