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Summary: How about the Generation before?
Review: The book is favorably received by the children of the subject generation. Perhaps more should be told of the elderly mothers and fathers of WWII generation who made physically demanding sacrifices. Despite losing close family members, they took in married daughters and their children, rented rooms to soldiers (and their wives), worked long beyond middle age, and graciously gave up comforts due them to encourage and make the chaotic existence tolerable for the rest of us.
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Summary: Circumstances make for greatness
Review: I love the generation described in this book. These are our parents(I'm a war baby, not a baby boomer) and they created an environment which has opended up a whole array of new opportunities for us and our children. My own father was not in the military but he got up at the crack of dawn each day to take a subway ride from Harlem to the New York Port Authority. From there he caught a bus out to Curtis Wright Corp in New Jersey where he assembled airplane engines. He was one of the first blacks to work there and probably only got the job because of the war effort. However, I take exception to the idea that there is something intrinsically unique about this or any other generation. The people Tom Brokaw described were confronted with a great challenge and rose to it. I don't think the younger generations around today would just cave in if confronted with the same kind of challenge. What that world war II generation illustrates is the greatness of the human spirit. Finally, I don't hink Mr Brokow intended to belittle the contriubtions of other nations to the war effort, hewas merely concentrating on those who were our parents nd grandparents in this country.
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Summary: A blue print for everyone to follow
Review: I am 28 years old and I'm a huge fan of WWII. Listening to my grandpa tell me his stories of being on a ship during the war had always intrigued me. When he passed away a few years ago i felt that i lost that connection...until now. The Greatest Generation is absolutely wonderful. It chronicles the men and women during WWII and their feelings here at home and over seas fighting in that great war. Reading about the courage, integrity, and stamina of these men, i felt as if my grandpa was sitting right there telling me how it was for him. This book shows where family values comes from. How to strive to always do your best and how to become a success in the face of adversity. I could only hope that other men could read this book to see how to be a true to the word, Family Man. How to always love and care for those who are supporting you and how Integrity, Service, and Country are three words that hold this nation together...BRAVO MR. BROKAW!
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Summary: TV scripts don't always make good books
Review: There are some touching chapters in this book, but overall, some of the material was less-than-gripping. As I read this book, I could imagine the text as part of a TV news story script complete with old pictures, natural sound, some long pauses in the piece as the camera pushes in or pulls out on the shot. Coupled with the video, these chapters would be powerful. Without the video, they read a bit on the dull side. I can't argue with these people being called the greatest generation but I would argue with those that claim this book as the greatest tribute to the greatest generation
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Summary: From a fan of History
Review: This book provides a great deal of insight into the lives and character of those individuals that lived through the ww2 period. Except for the obligatory chapters, required by political correctness, of individuals that didn't do or contribute anything other than just live in that period, I feel that this is a very worthwhile book. As Brokow pointed out, the greatest insights come from comparing today's generation with those individuals from the greatest generation. And that forces all of us to comtemplate what the future will be like with our current generation in charge. We can only hope for the best.
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Summary: Very touching
Review: I found the words to be very touching, giving the horrors of war an emotional touch. I was very impressed by this book and had a hard time putting the book down.
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Summary: Not a war book, but a Generation testamonial
Review: It seems many people have this book confused as a testimony ofWorld War II, but I challenge you to re-think your stance. The titlecan be no clearer: The Greatest Generation. Yes, there are the stories of the men who fought in WWII, but what of the women back home, the wives, the children, the neighbors, the relatives. This is a great book in understanding the moral up-bringing and pride and sense of responsibility that was prominent back in the 40's and 50's but has seemed to disapear with the current generation. Our generation will be remembered as the one who blamed everybody but themselves for personal problems and making frivoulos lawsuits. These were people who came out of a depression just to go into a war, and for those that came back, to turn there lives around. Not just for themselves, but for their families, and for ours today. They didin't know the word defeat, and made sure there families were a priority (can we say that about ourselves today?) This book took people from all walks of life and painted a very realistic picture of what patriotic pride is all about. They weren't seeking glory or money, but had a deeper meaning of fullfilling a wanting in their hearts to help their fellow American. Some of the individual account can be a bit tedious at times, but there are many other stories of what true hero's are/were and that doesn't mean you had to be holding a rifle. There were plety of unsung hero's back here at home. With myself just turning 30, I am convinced that those Americans (of all backgrounds) of the 40's and 50's truly were the Greatest Generation. They were the generation that ensured we would have our own generation.
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Summary: A Shocking Omission
Review: During WWII, the Serbian allies of Gen. Mihailovich's Chetniks rescued over 500 American airmen downed over occupied Yugoslavia, the single largest rescue of American troops from behind enemy lines in our nation's history. Gen. Mihailovich received the Legion of Merit Award for this rescue. The award was recommended by Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower and approved by an Act of Congress on July 20, 1942, (sec. III, Bul. 40 WD, 1942) and Executive Order 9260, 29 October, 1942 (sec. I, Bul. 54, WD, 1942). It was presented posthumously to Mihailovich by President Harry S. Truman on March 29, 1948. The State Department kept that award secret for over 20 years and to this very day they still maintain possession of the medal refusing to pass it on to Mihailovich's heirs. Hundreds of Serbs lost their lives to save these American troops, one of those downed airmen was Maj. Richard L. Felman, a Jew from Tucson Arizona who told this writer, "How can we expect the government to level with the American"~ people about the MIAs in Vietnam when they are still covering up the truth about the MIAs in WWII?" Serbs the recognition they deserve. Hundreds of Serbs gave their lives saving these American airmen. Major. Felmen told me of his own rescue in which an entire village of some 200 Serbian women and children were killed because they refused to reveal his hiding place with Mihailovic's Chetnik forces. He watched with binoculars from the opposite hill as German troops slaughtered these Serbian victims. He begged Mihailovich to give him up to the Germans but Mihailovich refused saying, "You are too"~ important to the forces of peace and freedom.""~ It is quite clear that he believes the name "Serb" is synonymous with the word "Jap" in WWII. What an ugly testament to those who fought and died for freedom.
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Summary: Great expectations unfulfilled
Review: My father served in Europe during WW II. Like many other G. I.'s he returned home with a foreign-born wife. It was very disappointing that there was no mention of soldiers and their war brides in this book. The individual stories are good as far as they go, but Brokaw trivializes them with the same flowery comments repeated again and again. Some celebrity stories such as Art Buchwald's were very entertaining, but other celebrity names were mentioned without an account of the individual's experiences. Would you call that name dropping? I agree with all the other reviewers who liked the stories but found them pooly written.
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Summary: America's disturbing ignorance
Review: I am quite disturbed by the absolute ignorance of the american reviewers of this book. They honestly believe America was solely responsible for the allies winning of the war. This book is extremely complacent, and with its remarkable bias, does not qualify as history. As the last reviewer said, American's obviously think they are better than everybody else. That was the reason why Germany started the war in the first place.
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