What readers think of The Greatest Generation, plus links to write your own review.

i am being forced to read this book for my modern era history class. it is not abd book but i would be WAY more interested if it was just about the people. the first lke 20 pages is about brokaws life. i say read it but not all of it, you will fall asleep.Text

This is a perfect book for people of questionable intelligence that haven’t a clue about actual history and are too lazy too examine the historical records to obtain the truth about World War 2 or to put it more bluntly it’s a feel good book for the mentally challenged. A more accurate description of the time can be found from an old TV documentary that aired in the US in 1975 called THE WORLD AT WAR. This British made 30 part series of one hour shows took you from the political beginning of the Nazi’s during the great depression right through to the bitter end of the Axis forces. This film came out in the cold war years and was surprisingly accurate considering the self serving propaganda of the former allies at the time. I was only 28 years old back then when I watched the entire series and I thought, they never taught this in school. If you have a brain then forget this book and find the original THE WORLD AT WAR series. It’s well worth the time.

It seems apparent to me that the literary world is scared to death of criticizing a book about the so-called, "Greatest Generation." The book really isn't that good. Brokaw's arguments are irrelevent and at times, asinine. Of course the country banded together in the face of fascism, just as we came together in the aftermath of 9/11. I would never take anything away from the men and women who served in WWII, but to claim that they are the "greatest generation" is simply insulting to anyone between 18 and 45. One must remember that America didn't even join the war until we ourselves were attacked, and even then we waited for Germany to declare war on us. But I digress. In conclusion, Brokaw's collection of interesting anectodes amounts to no more than that: a collection of interesting anecdotes, not a substantioal literary work.

Brokaw is wrong. There is no greatest generation. Every generation has its heroes and its scoundrels. Every generation is as terrible as it is great. There is no easy way to list the pros and cons of all the generations and come up with any final result other than never-ending tedium. I will congratulate Mr. Brokaw on his ability to sell books. This one, however, is a wolf in sheeps' clothing. This book is a collection of inspiring true stories of the WWII generation. Some think these are stories of normal people doing extraordinary things. I think it is a marvelous collection of people being put in extraordinary situations. To go ahead and name the book, "The Greatest Generation" is a fantastic marketing strategy. Mr. Brokaw has collected stories and, by naming it in this fashion, has turned the whole book into a campaign for the WWII generation as GREATEST EVER. In the tradition of American politics and yellow journalism, Brokaw has faked out the American people by editing out the negative aspects of the generation. Had this been an argument for the WWII generation, people would have been more skeptical. Instead of saying he's out to prove anything he simply provides us with the dots to connect.

Not enough credit given to allies, especially the USSR. Two weeks after D-Day, Soviets launched Operation Bagration, destroying three Nazi armies; if they had been in France we would have been destroyed in the Normandy hedgerows.

Check Stalingrad. Check Kursk, biggest tank battle in history, it was the remnants of those battered Panzers which gave us trouble at the Battle of the Bulge.

4 out 5 Nazis were killed on the Eastern Front.

Say again, who won the war in Europe?

Concerning The Merchant Marine in WWII
The only mention was one Para on Page 18 and it was an uneducated derogatory one at at that.

You should not even comment about them without some intelligent research. The AMM had the greatest per capita losses than any of the branches of service. One of every twenty six never survived. Accurate research will show that their pay for comparable rank was equal to or less than any of the service members. We were all volunteers and especially on the East coast we were in enemy waters as soon as we left port. In the first six months after Pearl Harbor we lost over 200 ships and over 2000 men along the east coast to German submarines. I was Chief Radio Officer on the SS Edward H Crockett and was Torpedoed by U-310 in the Barents Sea on Sept 29, 1944. My pay stopped that same day. I had a shipmate on that run that was sunk on the previous run and still volunteered to sail again on my ship and was my mentor saying he would help me when we would get torpedoed. He shared my lifeboat without which would be certain death.

As you stated in your book "The AMM was the safest of all services." I wish you would have been on our ship, it would have been very enlightening for you.

I'm reading this book like most other students, but not for any history class. I'm reading it for biology. Yes - biology. Why? Because this book is that good that, of all the books written, my biology teacher decides that we should read this book for the class as extra credit. It is a great book. Everyone who's commented has covered all the fields... so I'd say read it. It's worth it. If you think it's boring, skip to another section. It's good.

Richard A. Siggelkow
Mr. Brokaw accurately reflects, through first hand accounts, how American soldiers reacted to their WW II experiences. I am proud to be a member of the "greatest generation", and served 38 months as a lst Lt. and Captain in England, North Africa, Sicily, Italy, Corsica, France, and Germany in the European theater. I recently uncovered a long lost Journal about that overseas experience in which I included negative aspects, often too easily ignored, about some of our men. While not detracting from the positive impact of our American GIs, I objectively recorded instances of drunken behavior, venereal disease rates, and unfavorable episodes in foreign countries that did not always reflect positively on American troops. I also reported about many acts of good will and kindness towards children and civilians, providing balance and perspective. We should strive for complete accuracy as we review history; truthful detail enhances -- and does not overshadow -- the role and contributions of American troops that were so vital and important to our nation and the world.