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Reporting America
Over fifty years of reportage on American life by one of the 20th century's greatest broadcasters for nearly sixty years, Alistair Cooke reported on American life for the BBC. Reporting America is a fascinating account of history in the making. His beloved radio show, Letter from America, saw eleven presidents, four wars, and an incredible shift in culture. He adored the u.s. as only a naturalized citizen could, and his reports were incisive and often moving. Cooke traveled extensively all over the united states to convey the views of citizens in all the nuances of regional opinion as well as those of the presidents and policy makers to whom he had easy access.
Susan Cooke Kittredge's introduction offers rare insight into the life of her father, the man many knew as the voice of Letter from America and the host of CBS's Omnibus and PBS's Masterpiece Theatre. Here are the triumphs, disasters and vicissitudes of American life --from Korea, McCarthyism, the Civil Rights movement, JFK, the moon landings, Watergate, Nixon's resignation, Clinton's scandals, the attacks of 9/11, right up to the war with Iraq --as told by one of the century's most admired reporters.
Susan Cooke Kittredge's introduction offers rare insight into the life of her father, the man many knew as the voice of Letter from America and the host of CBS's Omnibus and PBS's Masterpiece Theatre. Here are the triumphs, disasters and vicissitudes of American life --from Korea, McCarthyism, the Civil Rights movement, JFK, the moon landings, Watergate, Nixon's resignation, Clinton's scandals, the attacks of 9/11, right up to the war with Iraq --as told by one of the century's most admired reporters.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published October 6, 2008
About the author
Alistair Cooke
107 books40 followersBooks of British-American journalist and broadcaster Alfred Alistair Cooke include
Around the World in 50 Years
(1966) and
Alistair Cooke's America
(1973).
After the University of Cambridge graduated him, the British Broadcasting Corporation hired him. This legendary television host rose to prominence for his reports on London Letter on radio of National Broadcasting Corporation during the 1930s. Cooke immigrated to the United States in 1937. In 1946, he began his radio appearances on Letter from America on the British Broadcasting Corporation; this tradition that lasted nearly six decades.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alistai...
After the University of Cambridge graduated him, the British Broadcasting Corporation hired him. This legendary television host rose to prominence for his reports on London Letter on radio of National Broadcasting Corporation during the 1930s. Cooke immigrated to the United States in 1937. In 1946, he began his radio appearances on Letter from America on the British Broadcasting Corporation; this tradition that lasted nearly six decades.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alistai...
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 22, 2012
For those Americans of a certain age Alistair Cooke was the face of Masterpiece Theater and unfortunately that is probably what he is best remembered for, but Cooke was also a respected journalist who spent over 60 years chronicling the United States for readers and listeners back in his English homeland.
With his newspaper column for the Guardian and his BBC radio presentation, Letter From America, he both described and interpreted America for the British public. This chronological collection of essays, culled from both sources, is framed by a thoughtful and honest introduction by his daughter Susan Cooke Kittredge.
The most pleasant aspect of the work was the sense of time travel you experience when you read about historical events before they are history. Like published letters or journals, although not private, these pieces reflect perspectives on events that are usually lost with the passage of time, as a consensus of historical interpretation develops.
The pieces also reveal the minor prejudices and casual condescensions that were taken for granted in the mid 20th century. Cooke's essays about African Americans reveal the liberal face of pervasive societal racism as he talks about blacks with a paternalistic tone that jumps off the page now. And he reveals a growing conservatism as the Vietnam War and it's student protesters arrive on the scene, a traditionalism which will continue as the decades pass. Yet he remains a largely likable and observant reporter and I enjoyed my trip through time with him.
With his newspaper column for the Guardian and his BBC radio presentation, Letter From America, he both described and interpreted America for the British public. This chronological collection of essays, culled from both sources, is framed by a thoughtful and honest introduction by his daughter Susan Cooke Kittredge.
The most pleasant aspect of the work was the sense of time travel you experience when you read about historical events before they are history. Like published letters or journals, although not private, these pieces reflect perspectives on events that are usually lost with the passage of time, as a consensus of historical interpretation develops.
The pieces also reveal the minor prejudices and casual condescensions that were taken for granted in the mid 20th century. Cooke's essays about African Americans reveal the liberal face of pervasive societal racism as he talks about blacks with a paternalistic tone that jumps off the page now. And he reveals a growing conservatism as the Vietnam War and it's student protesters arrive on the scene, a traditionalism which will continue as the decades pass. Yet he remains a largely likable and observant reporter and I enjoyed my trip through time with him.
August 20, 2022
I've read this book over quite a long time reading his letters occasionally from his early, post-war letters in 1946, until his last letter in 2004, which in this collection was a reflection entitled "Was Saddam A Threat?"
I need to read the full biography of Alistair Cooke to gain a clearer perspective, but in this volume of letters, his daughter (a Minister in the United Methodist Church in Maryland) draws a picture of her Father. which is tender, but warts and all, to some extent.
His postscript provides an incisive analysis of modern America, in which he draws upon Gibbons' "Rise & Fall" of the Roman Empire, focusing upon a number of areas, social and economic, but perhaps mostly its moral decline.
Reading again about the Clinton's, reminded me afresh of just how brazenly immoral and yet completely unembarassed the President was. The response of the American people was, perhaps, equally shocking. Alistair Cooke's indictment of them was that of Gibbons' - namely that the people are surprisingly indifferent to the utterly shocking conduct of the Emperor, so long as he continued to repair the roads and remit taxes.
The sheer longevity and insight of Alastair Cooke as a reporter deserves our reading of his reflections on America, in order that we might be men and women who know our times.
I need to read the full biography of Alistair Cooke to gain a clearer perspective, but in this volume of letters, his daughter (a Minister in the United Methodist Church in Maryland) draws a picture of her Father. which is tender, but warts and all, to some extent.
His postscript provides an incisive analysis of modern America, in which he draws upon Gibbons' "Rise & Fall" of the Roman Empire, focusing upon a number of areas, social and economic, but perhaps mostly its moral decline.
Reading again about the Clinton's, reminded me afresh of just how brazenly immoral and yet completely unembarassed the President was. The response of the American people was, perhaps, equally shocking. Alistair Cooke's indictment of them was that of Gibbons' - namely that the people are surprisingly indifferent to the utterly shocking conduct of the Emperor, so long as he continued to repair the roads and remit taxes.
The sheer longevity and insight of Alastair Cooke as a reporter deserves our reading of his reflections on America, in order that we might be men and women who know our times.
April 30, 2023
In this wonderful collection of the BBC's Alistair Cooke Letters from America the reader/listener gets the great man's first take on history. Mr Cooke describes himself as a reporter yet each letter is full of trenchant analysis. The "letters" are arranged by decade into a series of chapters. At the beginning of each chapter includes an introduction written by Alistair's daughter. She also writes an introduction to the book as well. Each of contributions give background & context concerning the man behind the microphone/typewriter.If your a long time fan of the "Letters" as I am then you're in for a treat. If your interest happens to be American History & Politics then you will get a unique incite into the times covered. If you are simply a fan of intelligent & beautiful prose then you will enjoy this book. Finally, one of many things I learned whilst reading this book was that sun bathing only became a thing in the 1920's. Before that women sought to get out of the sun to preserve their looks. Acquiring a tan before then was definitely not the thing to do if you wanted to impress.
January 23, 2016
It's interesting to read contemporary perspectives on days and weeks that are now fixed in history, like JFK's assassination or the Cuban missile crisis. Alistair Cooke was writing about these events as they happened and without the hindsight that I've always been able to bring to them, and his detailed, unfussy reporting brings his topics alive. Unsurprisingly, he seems to grow increasingly curmudgeonly over the years, and it's hard to enjoy all of the pieces in this book, but I liked dipping in and out of it.
June 26, 2012
Many only know of Alistair Cooke as the long time host of Masterpiece Theatre and do not know he was a major journalist and radio broadcaster. His Letter From America was broadcast worldwide on the BBC continuousy for 59 years. In this book, whch is a compilation of from Cooke's varried writing for the Guadian Newspaper, Letter From America and other sources you will find an American story told from a astitute observer.
August 21, 2014
Fascinating to read stories from the time, when the eventual result of history was not known. The format of the 'letters' was good for this - bite sized chunks of history from a long span. Good to dip in and out of and get a sense of US history.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews