The Greatest Generation

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Summary: Thanks, Tom, From An Old Friend
Review: This is a book about people of integrity, written by a man of integrity. Read it now and revisit it every Veterans' Day. Thank you, Tom.

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Summary: Understanding the Old Folks
Review: This book is pretty ilustrative of the deeds of the generation that went to World War II and it is a very worth reading in order to understand some of the motives and views of the 'greatest generation'.

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Summary: Brilliant concept, poor execution
Review: The idea of exploring the human tragedy of WWII through the eyes of its participants is brilliant. Too bad its execution was left to Mr. Brokaw. Poorly written and politically correct to an extreme.

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Summary: Garbage in the era of postliteracy
Review: It is sad to see a mainstream news man stoop so low to stroke 1. the nation and 2. his "audience" (for who else must watch and believe mainstream tv news but old timers or people who think like old timers?) The job of a real journalist is never to make people "feel good" in the way that Brokaw does here. A real journalist would probe the terror that the American nation seems to ask each generation of young men to get ready to endure for more often than not false reasons. What's weird is that Brokaw mentions the humility of these people--they don't want to exploit their experiences in war, and he turns around and heroicizes them in precisely the way they seem to not want to be heroically portrayed. Is being sent off to kill another human being ever anything to get ra ra about? Shouldn't we instead look to the day when we never have to contemplate killing each other and write books that bring us in that direction? Like probing this thing called "nationalism" and the last refuge of a scoundrel "patriotism"?

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Summary: Takes One To Know One!
Review: Being an 80 year old, WWII B25 pilot, and kid from the citrus orchards of Whittier, Calif. I recognized many of my Air Force, college, and business friends in this book, though the names are different. Tom Brokaw, did indeed, find the "innerds" of these people he describes, and has truly captured the essence of their reason for existence. A successful and appreciated presentation. Thank you, Tom Brokaw

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Summary: Pomposity
Review: One need not go further than the title to see the pomposity of Mr. Brokaw. A love fest for a dying generation that looks down at every generation that follows because they didn't fight in a war. He fails to mention that fighting in WWII was very unpopular until our mainland was attacked. No, his generation is no better or worse than any other.

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Summary: Introspective, retrospective
Review: Outstanding work; vignettes of individuals & their contributions. A rightfully proud generation. The reader/reviewer that suggests Brokaw wrote this from an ultra-leftwing view is way off the mark. This is written in a spirit of patriotism, love of his country and giving the WW2 generation their due. Thanks, Mr. Brokaw, for a fine job.

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Summary: Brokaw needs a little perspective.
Review: Tom Brokaw has written a decent book applauding the WWII generation for their undeniable achievements, integrity, and character (although this has been going on literally non-stop practically since the day the Big War ended, despite the preposterous claim of one of Amazon's reviewers that "it's about time" this generation was appreciated). But "greatest generation?" Compared to whom? Greater than the giants at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th century who fought for, defined, and created this country? Greater than the Civil War generation that endured over 600,000 deaths in order to ensure that the nation would continue and that slavery would be ended? Greater than the generation of Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Marshall, MacArthur, and Nimitz who led Brokaw's "greatest generation" to victory in WWII?

And as for the much-maligned Baby Boom generation: if the Boomers are such relative slackers, what does that tell you about the parenting skills of their parents, who were, after all, the very same members of Brokaw's "greatest generation." And, of course, that "greatest generation" includes the same mental giants who sent the Boomers to Southeast Asia for so long.

A far, far better history of the WWII generation is Steve Ambrose's "Citizen Soldiers." Ambrose captures the same undeniable virtues, but with vastly more perspective and an absence of hype.

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Summary: A bad and dangerous book
Review: This is a bad and dangerous book. It's a bad book because it's boring, repetitious, simplistic and naive. The entire book is an ovation for those who participated and were heroic during WWII. I am not criticizing the fine people Mr. Brokaw portrays. I am criticizing the repetitiousness of Mr. Brokaw's effort. He's banging the same drum for 400 pages, and it's very tedious. Mr. Brokaw is naive in his praise of the veterans 'modesty' in not discussing their WWII experience. The failure to talk can be caused by trauma, selfishness or hidden pride. The WWII stories my dad told me were funny, scary, rude and more entertaining than anything Mr. Brokaw tells in his book. The book is dangerous for the following reason. If we accept his argument that this was the Greatest American Generation,then to be a good generation, we have to go fight a war, and be heroic in a variety of ways. It's blatantly militaristic and contemptuous of those of us who work hard, and help our kids have happy lives. I'm going to reread Catch 22, and watch the Best Years of Our Lives to get the bad taste out of my mouth. I give Mr. Brokaw 1 star because he writes well.

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Summary: Somewhat disappointed
Review: Being a fan of Tom's, having a strong interest in history, and having a deep admiration for whom he correctly describes as the greatest generation, I eagerly anticipated reading his book. After reading it though, I came away somewhat disappointed. I remember asking myself when I was done, "This is it?" I suppose it is due in part to searching out and reading about experiences of this generation in the past and thus making the stories in this book repetitive to me. Granted there are endless stories to tell, but there are too few told here and they tend to be told of those who went on to be highly successful afterwards. I would have liked to have seen a more well rounded series of stories. Also, a number of stories were so brief that I wondered what point or example he was trying to get across by including them. Although I can't say I truly enjoyed the book, I would say it should be recommended reading for those generations that are fast becoming removed from this generation and don't realize how important this generation was/is. Hopefully it will then spark their interest to learn more, or to seek out a grandfather or that retired neighbor to hear their personal stories. Hopefully as well, it will open up this greatest generation more to tell their personal stories before they are gone .