 The
War: An Intimate History, 1941-1945 ,
by Geoffrey C. Ward and Ken
Burns; read by Ken Burns with Tom Hanks, Josh Lucas, and Rebecca
Holtz
This is not an ordinary war story. It is a historical
account of World War II from 1941to 1945. It thoroughly covers
the December 7, 1941 sneak attack by the Japanese which put
the United States into the war in the Pacific. This book covers
military operations throughout World War II in the European
theatre and other locations as well as the war against Japan
in the Pacific.
Instead of giving dry, boring factual accounts,
the authors have covered the war from the viewpoints of people
in four small towns in the U.S. There are also statements
by a young girl who kept a diary while she and her family
were interned by the Japanese in Manila.
The U.S. towns represented were Laverne, Minnesota,
Waterbury, Connecticut, Mobile, Alabama and Sacramento, California.
Young men from these towns are referred to, and their involvement
in the war is discussed, providing for many interesting situations.
I found it disappointing that Ward and Burns did not include
soldiers from a big city like Chicago or New York. There were
thousands of young men from metropolitan areas who prior to
the war knew nothing but the city streets. Their reactions
would have been interesting since city boys would not know
about hunting in dense wooded areas or pine forests. They
would not know about trudging through mud when it rains or
walking in fields of knee-deep snow.
The book covers the end of the war and how people
felt about the outcome. The authors also mention the controversy
about whether the U.S. should have used the atomic bomb. The
question most often asked is, "Did it shorten the war
and did it save American lives?" Ward and Burns conclude
that the answer should be "Yes" to both questions.
I was a member of the American forces on Okinawa preparing
for the invasion of Japan. When the bomb ended the war I was
very happy, and I am happier today that I was not one of the
hundreds of thousands of American soldiers who would have
died if the war had continued.
This informative book will provide anyone who
was born after the 1950s with the knowledge and understanding
of what the country went through during World War II so that
we could have the freedom we enjoy today. I recommend it highly.
John
Mormon
11/2/07
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