Reporting World War II: American Journalism 1944–1946

by Samuel Hynes (Compiler), Anne Matthews (Compiler), Nancy Caldwell Sorel (Compiler)

The library of America is dedicated to publishing America's best and most significant writing in handsome, enduring volumes, featuring authoritative texts. Hailed as the "finest-looking, longest-lasting editions ever made" (The New Republic), Library of America volumes make a fine gift for any occasion. Now, with exactly one hundred volumes to choose from, there is a perfect gift for everyone.Drawn from wartime newspaper and magazine reports, radio transcripts, and books, this unique two-volume anthology collects 191 pieces by eighty writers recording events from the Munich crisis to the birth of the nuclear age.

"At last, the best of the great writing about the world's greatest war. A treasure". -- David Brinkley, ABC News

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War II, Journalism, American History, War, World History

970 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1995

About the author

A scholar and literary critic, Samuel Lynn Hynes Jr. attended the University of Minnesota before serving in the United States Marines as a torpedo bomber pilot during the Second World War. After completing his degree at the University of Minnesota, he earned his masters and doctorate degrees from Columbia University. Hynes taught at Swarthmore College from 1949 until 1968, Northwestern University from 1968 until 1976, and Princeton University from 1976 until his retirement as Woodrow Wilson professor of literature emeritus in 1990.

Reviews

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

As it was with Volume I, this is a compilation of WWII news dispatches written by news correspondents. Because it is the second volume, more of the dispatches were about Allied successes and some very hard-won battles. The most difficult selection was John Hersey's long account of the impact of the atomic bomb dropped on the city of Hiroshima (targeted because it was a site of a great deal of war-based industry). It is told in mini-stories of individual people, mostly Japanese male and female, and a German Jesuit priest, who with other German Jesuits, ran a school and mission in the city. I read this years ago, as a teen, as was appalled and moved. It was even more appalling and moving with this reading.

[Pete Iseppi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this volume a bit more than the first volume. This one takes you to the end of the war, and includes D-Day, the Battle of the Bulge and Hiroshima.
The section that I liked the best was written by Bill Mauldin, who created the G. I. comic "Willie & Joe" for the WWII editions of the army paper "Stars and Stripes." Many of his cartoons are included. A cool piece of WWII memorabilia would be one of Mauldin's original cartoon drawings, but they don't come cheap!

[Erik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably a step up from the already great volume 1. There are a lot of really good articles, but the stand out piece is John Hersey's Hiroshima which relates the detailed and personal accounts of several survivors of the atomic bomb. These stories aren't given enough focus in typical American books or classes.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the most part, everything contained here is essential reading. Firsthand journalism from 1938 to early 1944, with an emphasis on eyewitness accounts. It is still incredible to me that correspondents were this close to the front lines, or taking on fire while sitting in a reconnaissance plane. The foreword points out that a lot of wartime headline stories were embellished, or sensationalized to encourage the folks at home. The articles here are more play-by-play, so to speak, and they speak volumes. There are also some good pieces on the situation at home, such as the vast numbers of young women working in the munitions plants, and the Japanese internment program.

Reading this, and the preceding volume 1, is a great way to read about WWII. So many history books I've read get bogged down with minutiae on tactical battle moves, politics and personalities (and massive egos) of those in charge. Put yourself on the beach in the Pacific, or trudging through the Hurtgen Forest, and immerse yourself. Sure, it's important to understand how and why the world went to war, but don't forget to see it from the trenches.

[Frances · Rating 5 out of 5]

Riveting. This is Part Two, American journalism 1944-1946. These are the journalists real-time reports as they happened and published in newspapers and magazines of the day. This is how everyone back home learned about the war. Included is a Chronology of the war, maps, biographical notes, notes on the text, glossary, index, and photographs. Included is John Hersey’s book Hiroshima which began as installments to the New Yorker.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Speechless.

[Adam Gossman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing

[Ethan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Seeing WW2 as it seemed at the time is fascinating; even after this volume and Reporting World War II: Part One I would gladly read another one. As treats, there are two complete books included, Up Front by Bill Mauldin, an account of frontline infantry life with wry-to-black cartoons, and Hiroshima by John Hersey, which without moralizing and in understated prose makes it all terrifyingly real.

There are good references in the back, including some endnotes, even though there are no marks in the text to indicate what has been noted. Despite the references, you really need to know something about the course of WW2 or else it will be a chaos of battles, as the articles follow the war chronologically with stops in most of the hot spots around the world.

My only complaint is that there was no bad journalism included and little that was not outright great. Some of the writers refer to thick-headed journalism, jingoistic, defeatist, or just stupid, but with no instances included it is hard to know what that really means. Those references could even be mere rhetorical posturing, for all you can get from the book. Surely there would have been a little room in 850 closely typeset pages to show what the worst of the Hearst press was getting up to. A few domestic editorials and editorial cartoons would have been excellent additions as well.

[Oliver Bateman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the best way to experience WW2. I've squeezed three long papers out of five hundred pages of these volumes, with more academic makework to come. Contains the better Ernie Pyle selections.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

This two-volume set is brilliant, perhaps the best way to really learn about World War II. This is truly journalism as history. As a child of the 30's but too young to remember much about the war, this really made me feel as though I were reading about it in my daily newspaper. Highly recommended.

[Pam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful writing by all the big and some not-so-big names of World War II correspondents. Really outstanding.