Reporting World War II, Part 1: American Journalism, 1938-1944 (Library of America)
This superb collection of some 200 entries by nearly 90 writers, drawn from newspapers, magazine articles, broadcast transcripts and book excerpts, recalls WWII campaigns and battles in all theaters but pays attention to the home front as well. It begins with an excerpt from William L. Shirer's Berlin Diary and ends with one from John Hersey's Hiroshima. Among the selections are the earliest report of genocide in Eastern Europe (NYT, June 30, 1942); A.J. Liebling's New Yorker piece on the relationship between the press and the military; several of Ernie Pyle's combat stories; Walter Bernstein's expose of a wartime "sin city" serving an army base in Georgia; and Roi Ottley's "Negroes Are Saying...," which covers wartime discrimination (the latter two are book excerpts). Readers will find many interesting pieces by writers not usually associated with war reporting: E.B. White's Harper's piece on a war-bond rally in Maine; James Agee's Time essay on the reactions to FDR's death; Helen Lawrenson's description of the Battle of the Atlantic. This is a treasure trove of war reporting, featuring writing of the highest order. Illustrated. 25,000 first printing; Readers' Subscription main selection; History Book Club selection.Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.