Studs Terkel's The Good War: A Comprehensive Oral History of World War II

hoge: レビュータイトルに書いた通りです。

Japan on Sep 06, 2023

Just Call Me Donner: If you don't read anything else about WWII, read this. Veterans, war workers, everyday Americans and Europeans, they tell their stories about life during the "good war." They also discuss the aftermath, Displaced Persons, the Cold War and the Bomb. The narratives are short, and arranged in chronological order. People reveal their thoughts and feelings, it's presented verbatim, as if you were in the room listening to them.

United States on Oct 09, 2022

Terry Boettcher: Very different and varied perspectives on the war. Very well done!
More testimonies from the other side would have been interesting.

Canada on Sep 26, 2022

Leith Campbell: Where are those people today? What a job he did interviewing these greats.

Canada on May 20, 2022

Glenn: I like the interview format of the book. I don't usually read a book cover to cover right away and this allows you to read chapter by chapter without loosing your place or perspective. Mr. Terkel has the ability to reflect the emotions of his interviewees which makes the read interesting. I now have a much better feel of what it must have been like to experience the war from an individual's perspective.

Canada on Dec 10, 2021

LEE: World War 2 is the most significant event in world history. It was worldwide death, destruction, carnage, chaos, mayhem, technological advancement, etc. In “The Good War”, Studs Terkel interviews people who lived through this time period some 30 - 40 years afterwards for their recollection, remembrance, regrets, etc. During the past 30 - 40 years, many of them have developed a new and different prospective of World War 2 and its aftermath.

“The Good War” is a collection of interviews of those who lived through World War 2 - non-combatant civilians including children, Nazi slave laborers, Holocaust survivors, merchant seamen, servicemen, black US servicemen, a conscientious objector, “Rosie the Riveter”, USO and Red Cross workers, men and women who worked The Manhattan Project, politicians including FDR’s advisors, etc.

While reading the book, I was constantly reminded of the times that I spent with my dad, a World War 2 veteran, at the local VFW and American Legion Club. I knew World War 2 was horrific, but my dad and his fellow veterans would only reminisce about their funny and joyful experiences. They wouldn’t talk of the horrors of war.

Of...

United States on Aug 15, 2021

James Lentz: I don’t give 5 star ratings because I always believe there is room for improvement. But I can’t give this book any less. It isn’t perfect, a (very) few of the accounts are boring. I don’t want to lower its average because of my policy on ratings.

In voices of those who experienced the war, it is shown from all angles. American, German, Japanese, Jewish, non-Jewish, liberal conservative, young and old. As much as it is possible to do so, it captures the complexity of good and evil on all sides.

No less relevant now than it was in the late Cold War era when it was first published it should be recommended reading for all who care about the world - and required reading for all who don’t.

United States on Jun 18, 2021

brus: A co-worker of mine was told me about World War Z, and how he liked it because the story was told in a kinda 'Studs Terkel ' sorta style. I'd heard of Studs Terkel, but never read any of his books. I did like WWZ and was intrigued by what my friend meant, so I got this book for my Kindle. I am no expert about WW2, but I've read quite a bit about it. I knew about Patton, and D-Day, Okinawa so on and so on. I knew about some of the discrimination that had taken place back then too...the interment camps we had for the Japanese Americans, and the menial jobs we gave to the American service men. However, I never understood, or realized how bad it had been. Studs book tells the stories that we never really hear about. The Women that served here in the factories, and lost their brothers, and husbands in the War. How they discovered new opportunities in the work force because the the War, and began the real entry of Women into the work force. We hear from the African Americans who wanted to serve, but were relegated to servants jobs, and treated terribly by the Military. There are other stories too, some from the 'other' side. The German civilians caught in the bombing of Dresden, so on...

United States on Feb 08, 2014

G. Page: I have always loved Tony Parker's books in this country, a wonderful range of recorded interviews on topics as varied as crime, army life, the troubles in Northern Ireland and lighthouse keepers. Parker acknowledged his debt to the American Studs Terkel, so this was the first book of his that I have purchased. Terkel's influence on Parker is immediately apparent in the way that he structures and records the interviews conducted.
This is a fascinating take on American life and attitudes to the Second World War, with a very wide range of topics and people included. I felt it was best read in small chunks, taking one interviewee's experience and allowing that to be absorbed. I personally found the sections on attitudes to different races and Japanese internees the most interesting and eye opening, and was startled by the depth of prejudice that existed. The interviews cover life on the American 'Home Front', the war against Japan and American soldiers experiences in Europe. A theme which occurs again and again, even amongst the most professional and battle experienced people is the futility and needlessness of war...a trite comment, but the way in which so many interviewees reach...

United Kingdom on Feb 07, 2014

Rolland W. Amos: "The Good War" - Studs Turkel's 5th oral history - was published in 1984. Like most of his other books, this too was a "best seller". Turkel has put together excerpts from some 124 interviews with people who lived during the war years - ex-military officers and enlisted men, defense industry workers, atomic bomb scientists, celebrities, politicians, Jews, Japanese, Germans, Russians, men, women, blacks, native Americans, rich, poor, younger, older. I've missed some, but you get the idea.
The war, notes Turkel, was good for most Americans, ergo - the title. After a long, lean depression throughout the country, there were again plenty of jobs, plenty of money, and plenty of hell-raising. Also, Americans were happy to work hard and to lend their support to the war effort - in whatever way they could - because they thought they knew why the country was at war. Maybe they did, maybe they didn't. Most active participants in the war survived the experience: there were 129 million Americans at that time, 5 million served on active military duty, 1 million of those were killed, wounded, or injured in the war. Most Americans interviewed considered the war years generally happy ones. Many...

United States on Jun 21, 2008