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War Letters: Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars
War Letters Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars
Author: Andrew Carroll
In 1998, Andrew Carroll founded the Legacy Project with the goal of remembering Americans who have served this nation and preserving their letters for posterity. Since then, more than 50,000 war letters discovered in basements, attics, scrapbooks, and old trunks have poured in from around the country. The best of these letters are assembled in t...  more »
ISBN-13: 9780743202947
ISBN-10: 0743202945
Publication Date: 5/15/2001
Pages: 496
Rating:
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 14

4 stars, based on 14 ratings
Publisher: Scribner
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback, Audio Cassette, Audio CD
Members Wishing: 1
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

SGTBob avatar reviewed War Letters: Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars on + 156 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 5
Reading this book was realitively easy, as most of the letters are one pagers. You could read and if interruptions came up you could always continue at a later time.
The book has letters from the Civil War (both North and South soldiers and citizens), World War I and II, the Korean War, Vietnam, the Gulf War, Somalia and Bosnia. For the most part, the letters are in chronological order and take you on a walk through American and World history through the eyes of soldiers and other American Citizens. There are letters from several popular and distinguished persons long before they became well known.
For me the most difficult thing about this book was reading a series of letters from a soldier to his/her (yes, there are female soldiers) family back home, only to learn that he or she was killed in battle a short time after writing their "final" letter home. This book is a must read for anyone interested in history.
MELNELYNN avatar reviewed War Letters: Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars on + 669 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
t's good to find a book that puts the carnival of carnage known as war in perspective, and such is the case with "War Letters", a collection of correspondence from just about every great and not-so-great conflict in American history.
The editor, Andrew Carroll, does a superb job of mixing the types and plights of the American servicemen and women who pour their hearts into the pages of these letters. Examples: a man who writes a last letter before his hanging for participating in John Brown's Raid at Harper's Ferry; a WWII soldier who describes the horror of liberating the Dachau Concentration Camp; a Gold Star mother writes to her son, thirty years after his death in Vietnam.

The editor also sets up the letters nicely with italicized lead-ins that provide historical perspective.

As a whole, love of country is somewhat evident in these letters, but even more prominent and common is love of family.

War represents the despicably vicious side of mankind, and it's a poignant irony that the experience yields some of the most tender, loving and eloquent phrasings ever placed on paper.
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reviewed War Letters: Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars on
Some interesting letters, but I didn't read the whole book.
reviewed War Letters: Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars on + 83 more book reviews
Fascinating reading.
PIZZELLEBFS avatar reviewed War Letters: Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars on + 331 more book reviews
Wow. Darn good book. One that every history or mil history buff would like.


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