The war beat Europe : the American media at war against Nazi Germany Broadcasting pioneers like Ed Murrow and Walter Cronkite unpretentious reporters like Ernie Pyle and dashing photographers like Robert Capa and Margaret Bourke White are remembered for their courage and their willingness to put their lives on the line to record the sights and sounds of the World War II battlefield. In return for their fervent loyalty to the anti Nazi cause so the argument goes the military provided them with almost unprecedented access to all the major events. Small wonder that they apparently responded with patriotic generosity telling a story that both the military and the home front wanted to hear: World War II as a great American success story. In doing so these war correspondents engaged in self censorship to hold back the type of story that would have a corrosive impact on domestic morale. Casey uses relevant archives of primary sources that other previous works have failed to to challenge the core assumptions at the heart of the WWII media narrative. Was the American public exposed to an upbeat and anodyne image of the good war  which helped to ensure that domestic support remained durable and robust How did the militarys goal of keeping civilians entertained  the presidents aim to prevent complacency on the home front the medias desire to sell papers and radio shows and the reporters ambitions and hardships affect what Americans read about the war in the European theater Was the cooperation between the military and war correspondents voluntary altered by censorship policies coerced to some degree or the result of a fractious compromise Steven Casey gives the real scoop in this in depth account covering the reporters who covered the European beat from the battlegrounds of North Africa Germany Italy and France Going to War Part 1: North Africa Invasion 1942 The Advent of Ernie Defeat at Kasserine Victory in Tunisia Part 2: Bombing Germany How I Almost Got Killed Today Stories A High Octane Outfit Dark Days Part 3: Sicily and Italy Invasion 1943 An Antidote to Complacency Death in Winter Anzio and Cassino Part 4: Overlord Fear Lay Blackly Deep Down Invasion 1944 Normandy Stalemate Breakout Part 5: Victory To Germanys Borders Blackout on the Bulge Into the Reich Unconditional Surrender