librarianonparade's review
5.0
I think I, like a lot of people, have taken World War II journalism for granted. The history of the war, the words and sights and images, are so much a part of our common cultural background that it is all too easy to forget that those images were shaped by men. Those stories were written by reporters who were there, who were embedded with the troops: reporters who landed in Normandy on D-Day hot on the heels of the soldiers, who flew on the bombing runs over Germany, parachuted into Holland on airborne assaults, reporters who were never very far from the action and quite often right in amongst it. Fifty-one American reporters were killed in WWII, pursuing what they felt was their duty, to report honestly and accurately on events as they occurred, both for the soldiers and the folks back home.
One of the strengths of this book is how much Gay covers what the reporters themselves and their readers were interested in - the stories of the grunts, the men on the ground. The small snapshots of American GIs peppered throughout this book are of just as much interest now as they were back then, and there are some incredible stories in here. Few of these reporters ever lost sight of those soldiers, their importance, their bravery and resilience, and this comes through on every page.
We are used to seeing reporters covering war zones in today's news, but today's wars often seem very short and very far away in comparison to such a titanic clash as WWII. It was fascinating to read about how the reporters approached their stories, how they finagled their way into missions, hitch-hiked to front lines, dove for cover from bombs and artillery and occasionally even had to pick up a gun themselves. Of the reporters covered in this book, I had only heard of Walter Cronkite, and it was more in his later role as avuncular host on CBS Evening News than as a young war reporter. But even though the five men chronicled here were unknowns to me, I got utterly swept up in this book. It is such a unique approach to WWII history and, as I said, an angle I had never even thought of before.
One of the strengths of this book is how much Gay covers what the reporters themselves and their readers were interested in - the stories of the grunts, the men on the ground. The small snapshots of American GIs peppered throughout this book are of just as much interest now as they were back then, and there are some incredible stories in here. Few of these reporters ever lost sight of those soldiers, their importance, their bravery and resilience, and this comes through on every page.
We are used to seeing reporters covering war zones in today's news, but today's wars often seem very short and very far away in comparison to such a titanic clash as WWII. It was fascinating to read about how the reporters approached their stories, how they finagled their way into missions, hitch-hiked to front lines, dove for cover from bombs and artillery and occasionally even had to pick up a gun themselves. Of the reporters covered in this book, I had only heard of Walter Cronkite, and it was more in his later role as avuncular host on CBS Evening News than as a young war reporter. But even though the five men chronicled here were unknowns to me, I got utterly swept up in this book. It is such a unique approach to WWII history and, as I said, an angle I had never even thought of before.
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