The Greatest Generation Speaks: Letters and Reflections

A very fast read. The book is not a work by Brokaw but a selection of letters which arrived after he had published "The Greatest Generation". Brokaw provides the introductions to the various sections. I have not read the first book. As I don't believe America has reached its highpoint, I don't agree that that generation was the greatest. I believe Brokaw is sincere in his limited estimation. But he is no historian. Overall, this is a nice addition to other interesting details surrounding the major events of WWII. This book is for the general reader but might be better appreciated among those people who lived through war years and after. Brokaw tends to gloss over what is explicitly stated by several entries, namely, "those who talk the show more most [of their battlefield exploits], did the least [in terms of selfless bravery]". Brokaw in Chapter IX still maintains that there was a national sense of purpose during the war years. Some of the combat veterans did not express those feelings of common purpose during actual combat. Rather than dwell on these sentiments Brokaw prefers to emphasize the patriotic aspect of all Americans, which is true enough. 9 pages of b/w photos, no Index, 9 chapters, Introduction, 'I Remember' journal pages. show less

A follow-up to Tom Brokaw's powerful "The Greatest Generation", this book is largely letters and reflections from the veterans and families of that terrible conflict. The letters cover the gamut, and I'm glad Brokaw was meticulous about covering the experiences of women, blacks, and Japanese-Americans, three groups that all received short shrift at the time. I think the most moving letters (I believe there was more than one) were from the grown children of fathers who died overseas without ever meeting their unborn children, and the feelings they had when finally visiting their fathers' graves in France. I can't imagine what that must feel like it, but the letter writers made it a very real and shared sorrow and pride.

This is a must read for anyone who has or had connections to anyone that was part of "The Greatest Generation." A follow up to Mr. Brokaw's first book, The Greatest Generation, The Greatest Generation Speaks is mainly letters and stories that the author received in response to his fist book. Having a Grandfather, and two great uncles that both served during World War Two, and a Grandmother and great aunts that worked in defense plants during the war, I really enjoyed it. There were funny stories, interesting parts of history that I didn't know about, and stories that brought you to tears. I highly recommend this book.

Although I preferred his first book, The Greatest Generation, this book was very interesting as well. I rank them right up there with Ernie Pyle, and for me, that is saying something.
By writing of the Depression/WWII generation, mainly in their own words, Mr. Brokaw has opened up the floodgates of repressed memories and communication for people of this era. His second book is mainly letters he has compiled from veterans and their families, yet he has ordered them in such a way as to be a beautiful story of the bravery, honor, sacrifice, faith and morality of that era. One can't help wondering how things have gone so far awry since then. These stories moved me to tears often and made me think of our present day boys and girls serving in show more Iraq and around the world. What will be the result and end of their bravery and sacrifice? Will the end be worth the means? I sincerely hope so. show less

A fairly interesting collection of letters from soldiers and relatives from World War 2. There is really nothing new here that cannot be read from the many memoirs that have been published already, but this is a collection of numerous participants, their children, and even grandchildren which can help shed some generational perspective.

The Greatest Generation Speaks was born out of the vast outpouring of letters Brokaw received from people eager to share their personal memories and experiences of a momentous time in America's history after his bestseller “The Greatest Generation.”

These letters and reflections cross time, distance, and generations as they give voice to lives forever changed by war: eighty-year-old Clarence M. Graham, who recounts his harrowing experience as a soldier captured by the Japanese -- and provides a gripping eyewitness account of the dropping of the atomic bomb; Patricia Matthews Dorph, a soldier's daughter who shares the love letters her parents exchanged during the war, a lasting legacy of passion, devotion, and enduring love; Rabbi show more Judah Nadich, the first Jewish chaplain to serve in the war; Lorraine Davis, a civilian who helped form the Club of '44, a group of wartime wives who still meet today. show less

Perhaps not the best one to listen to while driving. Some of the letters are sad and graphic (about POWs and concentration camps, etc.) but others are quite sweet. At times, I did find it difficult to determine when the author was speaking for himself and when he was reading a letter. I haven't read or listened to The Greatest Generation (the precurser to this) but it wasn't strictly necessary to do so.

I don't know what was cut out in this abridged version but it was a bit abrupt and rough in places.