Kirkus Review
The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist (1900-45) collected his work from WWII in two bestselling volumes, this second published in 1944, a year before Pyle was killed by a sniper's bullet on Okinawa. In his fine introduction to this new edition, G. Kurt Piehler (History/Univ. of Tennessee at Knoxville) celebrates Pyle's "dense, descriptive style" and his unusual feel for the quotidian GI experience-a personal and human side to war left out of reporting on generals and their strategies. Though Piehler's reminder about wartime censorship seems beside the point, his biographical context-Pyle was escaping a troubled marriage-is valuable. Kirkus, at the time, noted the hoopla over Pyle (Pulitzer, hugely popular syndicated column, BOMC hype) and decided it was all worth it: "the book doesn't let the reader down." Pyle, of course, captures "the human qualities" of men in combat, but he also provides "an extraordinary sense of the scope of the European war fronts, the variety of services involved, the men and their officers." Despite Piehler's current argument that Pyle ignored much of the war (particularly the seamier stuff), Kirkus in 1944 marveled at how much he was able to cover. Back then, we thought, "here's a book that needs no selling." Nowadays, a firm push might be needed to renew interest in this classic of modern journalism.
Library Journal Review
Famed war correspondent Pyle's (Ernie Pyle in England; Here Is Your War) 1944 collection of dispatches from the front lines of World War II is now available in audio. This volume includes an introduction by biographer David Chrisinger and covers Pyle's travels across Sicily, Italy, and France, ending with his time in the South Pacific. At the peak of his popularity, Pyle's column was published in over 200 daily and 400 weekly publications, reaching over 12 million Americans. He became the most famous, loved, and trusted of any American war correspondent and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished war correspondence in the weeks leading up to D-Day. Sadly, just when the war was near its end, Pyle was killed in Okinawa in 1945. His dispatches describe what he called a "worm's eye" view of the war, enabling readers to understand the gruesome realities of combat. His writing paved the way for live frontline video reporting during the Vietnam War. Narrator and actor Michael Brainard's well-enunciated, matter-of-fact style pays homage to the historical significance of Pyle's remarkable work. VERDICT Pyle's words bring out the humanity in the soldiers, communicating their bravery without resorting to gory or sensationalistic descriptions. This collection of heartfelt reports, sensitively conveyed in audio, is highly recommended.--Dale Farris
