Since the founding of the United States, war has been a recurring phenomenon in American history. We have fought for many reasons: independence, national unity, manifest destiny, international democracy. Americans have fought in almost every corner of the world, from deserts to mountains to jungles. And in every war on every front, we have paid intense attention. Typewriter patriots, equipped with telegraphs, radio microphones, or satellite links, have been the conduit for a public eager to imagine and feel every musket fire and missile blast from Lexington to Baghdad. In Dispatches from the Front we have unique and special dispatches from ten American wars. In the correspondents' words ring the passion and drama of war from the American Revolution to the Persian Gulf War. The work of Thomas Paine, Stephen Crane, Ernest Hemingway, Ernie Pyle, Edward R. Morrow, Sydney Schanberg, and more than sixty other correspondents tell us of America's wars as they happened, on the battlefield and on the home front. Brief essays introduce each war by discussing the important changes taking place in American society and providing a series of "national snapshots" of the economic, political, and technological character of the world and the country at the time. The impact of these factors on each episode of warfare is considered, followed by a focus on the experiences of the war itself. Over the years, the words of press observers have been central in fostering wartime nationalism. Reporters functioned as frontline poets, scratching the first impressions into the culture's consciousness. The tone and character of the press coverage shaped the nation's understanding of itself. Dispatches from the Front offers insight into the culture of the United States at each crisis point, from its beginnings to the present time.
"DISPATCHES FROM THE FRONT is a first-rate book about the men and women who reported the gallantry, the raw courage and the honor of America's wars. Nathaniel Lande is both a teacher and a scholar in his vivid account of these correspondents, who became opinion makers helping shape an emerging nation." William Friday: President Emeritus
Outstanding scholarship. A wonderful read!
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 25 years ago
"A Dynamite read" Colonel David Hackworth: NEWSWEEK."Beautifully written...This masterful collection is for anyone who appreciates good writing and loves journalism. It is a moving account of our republic that honors the best in our profession." Edward Barnes:TIME.I could not agree more with these quotes from the Oxford University Press edition of DISPATCHES FROM THE FRONT: A History of the American War Correspondent. From typewriter patriots to frontline poets, radio microphones and satelitte links, this book is a stunning illustrated history of the American War Correspondent. I found it facinating, especially the tone and character of the press coverage that has shaped the nation's understanding of itself. Nathaniel Lande is a graceful and insightful writer, a scholar who has written one of the most facinating books with riveting accounts from Ten American Wars. It is more than "national snapshots" of the world and America on the home front and front lines. I felt every musket fire and missile blast from Lexington to Bagdad. I think readers will be particularly moved, as I was, with the selected dispatches filed by Ernest Hemingway, Ernie Pyle and Sydney Schanberg, who with more than sixty other correspondents took me inside American's Wars as they happened.
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