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From Foxholes and Flight Decks: Letters Home from World War II
An interactive book of fully-removable facsimilie letters written by World War II soldiers to their families and friends back home
History comes alive in this beautifully produced four color scrapbook of World War II letters and other documents. The reader will be able to hold in their hands and read twenty authentic letters written by soldiers to their loved ones waiting in America. The book covers the war from Pearl Harbor to V-E and V-J Days, chronicling American involvement both on the fronts and at home. The correspondence includes:
* a worm's eye view of basic training
* a love letter to a fiance left back home
* a WAC's perspective on the North African front
* the dreaded Western Union telegram that announced a son had been wounded overseas
* a jubilant letter recording first impressions of the Japanese surrender
From Foxholes and Flight Decks is a book to experience, not just read.
History comes alive in this beautifully produced four color scrapbook of World War II letters and other documents. The reader will be able to hold in their hands and read twenty authentic letters written by soldiers to their loved ones waiting in America. The book covers the war from Pearl Harbor to V-E and V-J Days, chronicling American involvement both on the fronts and at home. The correspondence includes:
* a worm's eye view of basic training
* a love letter to a fiance left back home
* a WAC's perspective on the North African front
* the dreaded Western Union telegram that announced a son had been wounded overseas
* a jubilant letter recording first impressions of the Japanese surrender
From Foxholes and Flight Decks is a book to experience, not just read.
64 pages, Hardcover
First published October 9, 2002
2 people are currently reading
38 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
September 29, 2024
This book is incredible! To put all of this together the way it has been, with copies of the letters is no small feat. I appreciated each entry. There are many different views of what WW2 was to the people who lived through it. I think this book does a great job of reflecting that throughout. The letter on SS stationary from a soldier that liberated Dachau was especially moving. My grandfather was one of the U.S. servicemen who was there and saw exactly what that soldier described. This book, again, is incredible!
April 23, 2023
This is a beautiful book. It is really unique. The letters are actually reproduced as paper letters that the reader takes out of a pocket on the page. The reader is allowed a window into the writers' joys and pains.
July 26, 2019
My only complaint is that the hard-to-read letters did not have typed translation. It is living history, to read the letters. So good.
September 8, 2021
A unique view of WW II. Letters from grunts, pilots, air crew and nurses gives a great view of the hopes and aspirations of the American in the war.
October 13, 2011
From Foxholes and Flight Decks: Letters Home from World War II revolves around the accounts of American soldiers during that war. They talk about their experiences to their families and loved ones from their day of enlistment to combat (if it passes the military censors).
These letters are emotional and often powerful reading material. Some of these authors wouldn't be returning home.
Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you view it, I found the book to be quiet short. It often reminded me of reading articles from Time or Reader's Digest. Although the presentation such as the detailed replicas of soldiers' letters inserted along its pages are really amazing. Some of these are hard to read directly but you can find their transcriptions at last pages.
These letters are emotional and often powerful reading material. Some of these authors wouldn't be returning home.
Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you view it, I found the book to be quiet short. It often reminded me of reading articles from Time or Reader's Digest. Although the presentation such as the detailed replicas of soldiers' letters inserted along its pages are really amazing. Some of these are hard to read directly but you can find their transcriptions at last pages.
August 23, 2012
If you want history to come alive, this is the kind of book that will take you into the middle of the action. Mr. Gragg's book has 15 brief chapters of commentary on World War II, along with photos, facsimiles of badges and emblems, and pockets containing copies of letters from and about servicemen and women.
The letters range from ordinary letters home describing daily life in the military to letters detailing the horrors of liberated Nazi concentration camps. The most heartbreaking letters for me are the desperate letters from parents seeking information about their sons or asking for their personal effects. We grew up hearing about the Greatest Generation, and in Mr. Gragg's book, both their heroism and their humanity are amply on display.
The letters range from ordinary letters home describing daily life in the military to letters detailing the horrors of liberated Nazi concentration camps. The most heartbreaking letters for me are the desperate letters from parents seeking information about their sons or asking for their personal effects. We grew up hearing about the Greatest Generation, and in Mr. Gragg's book, both their heroism and their humanity are amply on display.
December 25, 2012
Part of the Museum in a Book series that gives you the opportunity to interact with reproductions of actual letters sent home to loved ones during different phases of a soldier's life from induction to the battlefield, notices of casualties sent to family members, requests from family members as to the status of their loved one, and notice from a POW camp. The letters are heartbreaking in many cases, especially one from a soldier who was involved in the liberation of Dachau who wrote of the atrocities he witnessed and how that would impact him the rest of his life. The presentation and format of the book is very nice as it takes the reader chronologically through the beginning of WWII through VE Day.
October 15, 2013
Quick read and a really innovative style with 20 authentic copies of letters and other wartime docs that are removable. Well illustrative and brings the War alive.
"Bad news almost always came by telegram. That was how the federal government usually notified next of kin that an American in uniform was wounded, missing, or killed during World War II. The sight of a Western Union delivery boy on the doorstep could send a shockwave of fear through practically anyone with a loved one in the military. About 18% of American forces suffered nonmortal wounds, more than 670,000."
"Bad news almost always came by telegram. That was how the federal government usually notified next of kin that an American in uniform was wounded, missing, or killed during World War II. The sight of a Western Union delivery boy on the doorstep could send a shockwave of fear through practically anyone with a loved one in the military. About 18% of American forces suffered nonmortal wounds, more than 670,000."
February 2, 2015
Great little guide to WWII. A collection of letters and the author's narration of a typical soldier's perspective on the war. Not in-depth, but makes a neat coffee table book. It's clean too, so I would be comfortable reading it to my young brothers who are interested in WWII.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews