What do you think?
Rate this book
Ernie Pyle in England
In December 1940 American war correspondent Ernie Pyle entered England for the first time.
With the German Luftwaffe flying overhead, he had entered it in the midst of the Blitz.
He would stay in Britain for the next four months.
With his distinctive writing style, that would later earn him a Pulitzer Prize, he vividly depicts Great Britain in her darkest hour.
With France defeated and America not yet in the war, the future did not look bright for Churchill’s country.
Yet, as Pyle finds out, this was not a country resigned to defeat, instead it was carrying on as best it could, determined that it would not buckle under the pressure of Hitler’s aerial raids.
He spends much time in London where he sees the city, “ringed and stabbed with fire,” but also travels the length and breadth of the country, from some areas that have hardly been affected like Edinburgh, to others like Coventry that suffered greatly under the bombardment.
Pyle’s inquisitive nature leads him to spend time with dockworkers of Glasgow, R.A.F. pilots in a bomber station, miners of Wales, policemen of London and families across the nation to uncover how the ordinary men and women were coping under the pressure.
Ernie Pyle in England is a fascinating account of Britain during one of its darkest periods, and how with amazing resilience the British people survived.
Ernest Taylor Pyle was a Pulitzer Prize winning American journalist. As a roaming correspondent for the Scripps-Howard newspaper chain he earned wide acclaim for his accounts of ordinary people, including the likes of Harry Truman. He was killed on Iejima in the Pacific theater of war during the Battle of Okinawa on April 18, 1945. This book was first published in 1941.
With the German Luftwaffe flying overhead, he had entered it in the midst of the Blitz.
He would stay in Britain for the next four months.
With his distinctive writing style, that would later earn him a Pulitzer Prize, he vividly depicts Great Britain in her darkest hour.
With France defeated and America not yet in the war, the future did not look bright for Churchill’s country.
Yet, as Pyle finds out, this was not a country resigned to defeat, instead it was carrying on as best it could, determined that it would not buckle under the pressure of Hitler’s aerial raids.
He spends much time in London where he sees the city, “ringed and stabbed with fire,” but also travels the length and breadth of the country, from some areas that have hardly been affected like Edinburgh, to others like Coventry that suffered greatly under the bombardment.
Pyle’s inquisitive nature leads him to spend time with dockworkers of Glasgow, R.A.F. pilots in a bomber station, miners of Wales, policemen of London and families across the nation to uncover how the ordinary men and women were coping under the pressure.
Ernie Pyle in England is a fascinating account of Britain during one of its darkest periods, and how with amazing resilience the British people survived.
Ernest Taylor Pyle was a Pulitzer Prize winning American journalist. As a roaming correspondent for the Scripps-Howard newspaper chain he earned wide acclaim for his accounts of ordinary people, including the likes of Harry Truman. He was killed on Iejima in the Pacific theater of war during the Battle of Okinawa on April 18, 1945. This book was first published in 1941.
205 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1941
About the author
Ernie Pyle
47 books66 followersErnest Taylor Pyle was an American journalist who wrote as a roving correspondent for the Scripps Howard newspaper chain from 1935 until his death in combat during World War II. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1944.
His articles, about the out-of-the-way places he visited and the people who lived there, were written in a folksy style, much like a personal letter to a friend. He enjoyed a following in some 300 newspapers.
On April 18, 1945, Pyle died on Iōjima (Iwo Jima), an island off Okinawa, after being hit by Japanese machine-gun fire.
His articles, about the out-of-the-way places he visited and the people who lived there, were written in a folksy style, much like a personal letter to a friend. He enjoyed a following in some 300 newspapers.
On April 18, 1945, Pyle died on Iōjima (Iwo Jima), an island off Okinawa, after being hit by Japanese machine-gun fire.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
May 6, 2021
These are dispatches from England at the latter portion of the Battle of Britain from Ernie Pyle. As with the rest of Pyle's writings, I found this fascinating --- akin to taking a time machine from this time to December 1940 - March 1941, during that time during when World War 2 seemed at its darkest hour, with Great Britain and her Commonwealth allies standing alone as the last bastion resisting the Fascist powers --- and where America and the Soviet Union were neutral, but most were anticipating America's entry into the War.
From the beginning, this was very interesting. Pyle's dispatches cover what it was like trying to travel across the Atlantic --- in his case to Lisbon, Portugal. And I enjoyed, especially as a commercial pilot, his account of airline travel ---by flying boat from Lisbon to England.
Great Britain --- and the English, Scottish, and Welsh people in general --- come across as blooded, yet unbowed. However, as would be the case with his dispatches as a combat correspondent later in the war, Pyle refrains from hagiography or exaggeration.
I gained a high esteem for the British people from this --- the ordinary British citizen --- what they faced, how dire and hopeless it could have seemed to a weaker-willed citizenry in some other society -- yet how well they came together to keep daily life going, to keep their military going, to keep up the will to fight, as well as to look after the weaker members of their society.
I highly recommend this book for anyone with a desire to get to know what World War 2 during the Battle of Britain was like for ordinary citizens. Very much a compelling read!
From the beginning, this was very interesting. Pyle's dispatches cover what it was like trying to travel across the Atlantic --- in his case to Lisbon, Portugal. And I enjoyed, especially as a commercial pilot, his account of airline travel ---by flying boat from Lisbon to England.
Great Britain --- and the English, Scottish, and Welsh people in general --- come across as blooded, yet unbowed. However, as would be the case with his dispatches as a combat correspondent later in the war, Pyle refrains from hagiography or exaggeration.
I gained a high esteem for the British people from this --- the ordinary British citizen --- what they faced, how dire and hopeless it could have seemed to a weaker-willed citizenry in some other society -- yet how well they came together to keep daily life going, to keep their military going, to keep up the will to fight, as well as to look after the weaker members of their society.
I highly recommend this book for anyone with a desire to get to know what World War 2 during the Battle of Britain was like for ordinary citizens. Very much a compelling read!
December 28, 2020
#3 Best Book I Read During 2020
What a fantastic book. I loved it.
Ernie Pyle was an American correspondent living in England during the winter of 1940/41, and this book is a collection of his columns, in the order you would have read them in the newspapers at the time. I'm a sucker for any kind of history where you see things as people were seeing it at the time (I sometimes spend my free time reading old newspapers online with my subscription to Newspapers.com), so this was right up my alley anyway.
But Pyle is a great storyteller, and what makes this book great is the way his warm, humble writing brings alive a fascinating time and place. Not the Oval Office, or 10 Downing Street (though I like that kind of history also), but in the living rooms of coal miners in Wales, or with a crowd in a movie theater, or in a church basement turned into a community bomb shelter, or with lawyers and bus drivers and cooks during their shift as roof spotters. The people he meets are long dead, and none of them wrote memoirs, but you get to see WWII through their eyes - a varied and fascinating perspective.
He's great with people, and that makes the book. But the small details help bring everything to life - Bovril, blacked out traffic lights, barrage balloons, bomb damage to park statues, children dispersal across the country, food rationing, how bombs actually work.
Many of these articles were written from London during the blitz. His explanations of how things worked were comprehensive, but also clear and matter-of-fact:
Antiaircraft guns, they tell me, can propel a shell upward for better than four miles. The shells are set to explode at a given altitude; or rather, a given number of seconds after leaving the gun. When they explode they make a great flash, and fragments are thrown over a radius of several hundred yards. Thus they don't have to get a direct hit on a plane, which would be more accidental than anything else. If they just get somewhere near him the explosion will sure make him jump.
This is my 11th WWII book, but it might be my favorite so far (if not, it's a close second to the Ian Toll books), and it will be probably be tough to find another book I enjoy as much all year.
Note: I got this on Kindle for 99 cents, which was a great deal, but there are several formatting errors. Didn't really take away from the experience, but I would recommend getting it in paperback.
What a fantastic book. I loved it.
Ernie Pyle was an American correspondent living in England during the winter of 1940/41, and this book is a collection of his columns, in the order you would have read them in the newspapers at the time. I'm a sucker for any kind of history where you see things as people were seeing it at the time (I sometimes spend my free time reading old newspapers online with my subscription to Newspapers.com), so this was right up my alley anyway.
But Pyle is a great storyteller, and what makes this book great is the way his warm, humble writing brings alive a fascinating time and place. Not the Oval Office, or 10 Downing Street (though I like that kind of history also), but in the living rooms of coal miners in Wales, or with a crowd in a movie theater, or in a church basement turned into a community bomb shelter, or with lawyers and bus drivers and cooks during their shift as roof spotters. The people he meets are long dead, and none of them wrote memoirs, but you get to see WWII through their eyes - a varied and fascinating perspective.
He's great with people, and that makes the book. But the small details help bring everything to life - Bovril, blacked out traffic lights, barrage balloons, bomb damage to park statues, children dispersal across the country, food rationing, how bombs actually work.
Many of these articles were written from London during the blitz. His explanations of how things worked were comprehensive, but also clear and matter-of-fact:
Antiaircraft guns, they tell me, can propel a shell upward for better than four miles. The shells are set to explode at a given altitude; or rather, a given number of seconds after leaving the gun. When they explode they make a great flash, and fragments are thrown over a radius of several hundred yards. Thus they don't have to get a direct hit on a plane, which would be more accidental than anything else. If they just get somewhere near him the explosion will sure make him jump.
This is my 11th WWII book, but it might be my favorite so far (if not, it's a close second to the Ian Toll books), and it will be probably be tough to find another book I enjoy as much all year.
Note: I got this on Kindle for 99 cents, which was a great deal, but there are several formatting errors. Didn't really take away from the experience, but I would recommend getting it in paperback.
November 20, 2018
Pyle was in England from November 1940 until March 1941, reporting on the Blitz. The book is comprised of Pyle's columns from that time. None of the columns run longer than 6 pages, and usually much shorter. Pyle's easy going voice (and acute eye) dominates. At times he seems almost overwhelmed by the damage caused by the German bombing (especially at Coventry and Bristol), but he's even more impressed the British spirit to resist. There are couple of instances when his column turned into propaganda puff pieces, but generally his tone is one of respectful neutrality. (Well, maybe not that neutral.) But the real strength of Pyle's writing is his ability to connect with people, whether it be at dinner table, a pub, or the darkened streets of London. You come away from this book recalling more the people he met and talked with rather than the strategies of the air war raging over his head, and the very real possibility of a German invasion. Interestingly, for all of his focus on people, Pyle, after observing the layers of British defenses around Dover (and elsewhere), didn't see how the Germans could invade anyway. The high morale of the British people, and the stark reality of those defenses, made a German invasion difficult and unlikely. A good book that really takes you back to those anxiety filled days. (And you can't beat the price.)
November 20, 2015
A straight-forward and moving account of London and all of the British Isles when she stood alone in 1941 against Nazi Germany. This was written before the attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941.
Pyle is an unassuming writer who always brings heart and humanity to his subject matter. He is a first rate journalist who truly knows the meaning of listening, observing and absorbing. The mood and fortitude of the English people is brilliantly evoked at this critical moment in history.
Pyle is an unassuming writer who always brings heart and humanity to his subject matter. He is a first rate journalist who truly knows the meaning of listening, observing and absorbing. The mood and fortitude of the English people is brilliantly evoked at this critical moment in history.
November 13, 2019
A point in time account of London in 1941.
Ernie Pyle needs no introduction, he was famous before he became a war correspondent, and he’s even more famous since his death by a Japanese machine gunner in the Pacific in 1945. Here the Ernie Pyle style, his grasp of detail, his ability to set the scene come into full focus. Well worth the time if you want to step back into time and travel with Ernie to an England at war.
Ernie Pyle needs no introduction, he was famous before he became a war correspondent, and he’s even more famous since his death by a Japanese machine gunner in the Pacific in 1945. Here the Ernie Pyle style, his grasp of detail, his ability to set the scene come into full focus. Well worth the time if you want to step back into time and travel with Ernie to an England at war.
December 5, 2016
Having just read a military history of he Battle of Britain, I was looking for a civilian companion piece and had the good luck to come upon this book on Amazon (and for 99 cents on the Kindle to boot!). In a series of straightforward, down-to-earth, self-deprecating and charming dispatches from all over England, Pyle takes the reader on nighttime walks through the blacked-out streets of London, evenings spent deep under London in bomb shelters and up above in the comparative luxury of The Strand hotel, through the horrific bomb damage of Coventry and Bristol, into pubs all over the British Isles and on train rides throughout the English countryside and into Scotland and Wales--all the while giving a sense of exactly what life in Britain in the early days of WWII, when they stood isolated and alone against Hitler, was like. Extremely interesting stuff made more poignant by the knowledge that Pyle's penchant for reporting the story of WWII would cost him his life on Okinawa before the war's end.
April 28, 2019
I've always been interested in Ernie Pyle since I first saw Burgess Meredith play him in the movie "The Story of GI Joe." My father told me about how everyone read his dispatches from the front. This book contains the dispatches he wrote while traveling around England, Scotland, and Wales observing how the British were, both as a nation and as individuals, handling the constant bombardment from German planes (and heavy artillery across the Channel aimed at Dover) and preparing for the potential invasion. He wrote with a good eye for detail, a sense of humor, and a deep admiration for the stalwartness of the British. (My one complaint is with the quality of the actual book - lots of typos (example on a page I just read "pres-ent" instead of "present" (maybe the word was originally at the end of a line and split accordingly but was not in this edition) and on another page "m" when context told me what should be there was "in.") Whoever retyped this was not paying attention.
November 24, 2016
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book partly because I'm a Londoner who grew up and played on the bombed out ruins of the city as a child. I liked Ernie Pyle's descriptions, his warm character shined through. I gave the book five stars not only because it was so readable, but for the tremendous effort he put into it--crossing the dangerous Atlantic to England, arriving in Lisbon, and then braving Hitler's bombs and traveling around England Scotland and Wales inspecting the damage and meeting the people. His real life descriptions of the British were heartwarming and human. I learned so much about the bombing and war preparations against German invasion that I had no knowledge of previously. He covered everyday things in detail: rationing, incendiary bombs, the blackout, millions living underground, the decimation of Coventry, British slang and humor, to mention a few. Fascinating.
November 12, 2016
First sentence: A small voice came in the night and said, “Go.” And when I put it up to the boss he leaned back in his chair and said, “Go.” And when I sat alone with my so-called conscience and asked it what to do, it pointed and said, “Go.” So I’m on my way to London.
Premise/plot: Ernie Pyle in England was first published in 1941. It gathers together Ernie Pyle's newspaper columns from his time--three or so months--in England (and Ireland and Scotland). (He was an American journalist.) At the time the book was published, America had NOT yet entered the second world war.
My thoughts: WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME THIS BOOK EXISTED?! Seriously. I've gone all these years of my life not knowing about Ernie Pyle?!?!?! This one was a PERFECT fit for me. I love to read about England. (I do. I really do.) And I love to read about World War II. If you love history, this one may prove quite satisfying. And if you love human-interest stories, then this one will certainly satisfy!!!
I found it fascinating, entertaining, compelling, charming.
Quotes:
Premise/plot: Ernie Pyle in England was first published in 1941. It gathers together Ernie Pyle's newspaper columns from his time--three or so months--in England (and Ireland and Scotland). (He was an American journalist.) At the time the book was published, America had NOT yet entered the second world war.
My thoughts: WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME THIS BOOK EXISTED?! Seriously. I've gone all these years of my life not knowing about Ernie Pyle?!?!?! This one was a PERFECT fit for me. I love to read about England. (I do. I really do.) And I love to read about World War II. If you love history, this one may prove quite satisfying. And if you love human-interest stories, then this one will certainly satisfy!!!
I found it fascinating, entertaining, compelling, charming.
Quotes:
A ship carries people out of reality, into illusion. People who go away on ships are going away to better things.
Our bathtub has three faucets, one marked cold, and two marked hot. The point is that one is a little hotter than the other. I don’t know why it’s done this way. All I care about is that one or the other should give off hot water; and they really do — plenty hot. But our radiator does not have the same virtue. It is a centuries old custom not to have heat over here. All radiators are vaguely warm; none is ever hot. They have no effect at all on the room’s temperature. I’ve been cold all over the world. I’ve suffered agonies of cold in Alaska and Peru and Georgia and Maine. But I’ve never been colder than right here in this room. Actually, the temperature isn’t down to freezing. And it’s beautiful outside. Yet the chill eats into you and through you. You put on sweaters until you haven’t any more — and you get no warmer. The result is that Lait and I take turns in the bathtub, I’ll bet we’re the two most thoroughly washed caballeros in Portugal. We take at least four hot baths a day. And during the afternoon, when I’m trying to write, I have to let the hot water run over my hands about every fifteen minutes to limber them up. I’m telling the truth.
My new English friends wanted to know what America thought; and they told queer bomb stories by the dozen. “You’re a welcome sight,” they said. “We’ve all told our bomb stories to each other so many times that nobody listens any more. Now we’ve got a new audience.”
London is no more knocked out than the man who smashes a finger is dead. Daytime life in London today comes very close to being normal.
Some day when peace has returned to this odd world I want to come to London again and stand on a certain balcony on a moonlit night and look down upon the peaceful silver curve of the Thames with its dark bridges. And standing there, I want to tell somebody who has never seen it how London looked on a certain night in the holiday season of the year 1940. For on that night this old, old city was — even though I must bite my tongue in shame for saying it — the most beautiful sight I have ever seen. It was a night when London was ringed and stabbed with fire. They came just after dark, and somehow you could sense from the quick, bitter firing of the guns that there was to be no monkey business this night.
And Big Ben? Well, he’s still striking the hours. He hasn’t been touched, despite half a dozen German claims that he has been knocked down. Bombs have fallen around Trafalgar Square, yet Nelson still stands atop his great monument, and the immortal British lions, all four of them, still crouch at the base of the statue, untouched.
Londoners pray daily that a German bomb will do something about the Albert Memorial in Kensington Gardens. If you have ever seen it, you know why.
Apparently the national drink in England is a beef extract called Bovril, which is advertised everywhere, like Coca Cola at home. Yesterday I went into a snack bar for some lunch. I asked the waitress just what this Bovril stuff was, and in a cockney accent that would lay you in the aisle she said: “Why sir, it’s beef juice and it’s wonderful for you on cold days like this. It’s expensive, but it’s body-buildin’, sir, it’s very body-buildin’.” So I had a cup. It cost five cents, and you just ought to see my body being built.
If I were making this trip over again I would throw away my shirts and bring three pounds of sugar.
You can hardly conceive of the determination of the people of England to win this war. They are ready for anything. They are ready to take further rationing cuts. They are ready to eat in groups at communal kitchens. Even the rich would quit their swanky dining rooms without much grumbling. If England loses this war it won’t be because people aren’t willing — and even ahead of the government in their eagerness — to assume a life of all-out sacrifice.
Don’t tell me the British don’t have a sense of humor. I never get tired of walking around reading the signs put up by stores that have had their windows blown out. My favorite one is at a bookstore, the front of which has been blasted clear out. The store is still doing business, and its sign says, “More Open than Usual.”
One of the few things I have found that are cheaper here than at home is a haircut. I paid only thirty cents the other day in the hotel barbershop, and since then I’ve seen haircuts advertised at fifteen cents. I’m going to get a haircut every day from now on — enough to last me for a year or two.
It was amazing and touching the way the Christmas spirit was kept up during the holidays. People banded together and got up Christmas trees, and chipped in to buy gifts all around. I visited more than thirty shelters during the holidays, and there was not a one that was not elaborately decorated.
I probably wouldn’t have slept a wink if it hadn’t been for the bathroom. I discovered it after midnight, when everybody else had gone to bed. The bathroom was about twenty feet square, and it had twin bathtubs! Yes, two big old-fashioned bathtubs sitting side by side with nothing between, just like twin beds. Twin bathtubs had never occurred to me before. But having actually seen them, my astonishment grew into approval. I said to myself, “Why not?” Think what you could do with twin bathtubs. You could give a party. You could invite the Lord Mayor in for tea and a tub. You could have a national slogan, “Two tubs in every bathroom.” The potentialities of twin bathtubs assumed gigantic proportions in my disturbed mind, and I finally fell asleep on the idea, all my fears forgotten.
It is hard for a Scotsman to go five minutes without giving something a funny twist, and it is usually a left-handed twist. All in all, I have found the Scots much more like Americans than the Englishmen are. I feel perfectly at home with them.
Pearl Hyde is head of the Coventry branch of the Women’s Voluntary Services. It was Pearl Hyde who fed and clothed and cheered and really saved the people of Coventry after the blitz. For more than a week she plowed around in the ashes of Coventry, wearing policeman’s pants. She never took off her clothes. She was so black they could hardly tell her from a Negro. Her Women’s Voluntary Services headquarters was bombed out, so she and her women moved across the street. Her own home was blown up, and even today she still sleeps in the police station. Pearl Hyde is a huge woman, tall and massive. Her black hair is cut in a boyish bob. And she has personality that sparkles with power and good nature. She is much better looking than in the film. And she is laughing all the time. She was just ready to dash off somewhere when I went in to see her, but she tarried a few minutes to tell me how good the Americans had been with donations.
It is against the law to leave a car that could be driven away by the Germans. You have to immobilize your car when you leave it, even though you might be walking only fifty feet away to ask a policeman for directions. In daytime, just locking the doors and taking the key counts as immobilization, but at night you have to take out some vital part, such as the distributor.
August 15, 2021
2021 bk 257. I just read Bob Hope's first hand account of a USO tour of England and realized I had Ernie Pyle's In England. Pyle went to England before America came into the war, this then is an account of seeing England in the early days - as rationing begins to take affect (he recommended that Americans bring their own coffee and sugar cubes instead of clothing), transportation required proof of identity more than any other endeavor, and he found the British population much more willing to talk to a Yank than he expected. An excellent book if you want to see what was happening in England in those early days. Pyle talks to the mighty (Beaverbrook in particular) and the not so mighty (dockworkers and housewives). He views bomb damage and experiences night time raids. A well done book that stands the test of time.
November 29, 2016
Ernie Pyle was a well published newspaper correspondent prior to and during WWII. He went to England in late 1940 and left in early 1941. His purpose was to report on how the average English person was enduring the war and near nightly bombing by the Germans. This book is composed of the articles he wrote during his trip and was first published in 1941. These articles give a clear understanding of the times and conditions under which they survived. I found the book to be easy reading and truly informative.
I have given this book a five star rating.
I obtained this book from Amazon in Kindle format.
Thank you Frank for your review!
I have given this book a five star rating.
I obtained this book from Amazon in Kindle format.
Thank you Frank for your review!
August 19, 2024
Very much enjoyed Ernie’s account of his visit to wartime Britain in 1940 and 1941 while the US was still neutral. Drawing on his established practice as a roving reporter he roams the British scene as much as possible and was pretty much given free access. He talked to antiaircraft gunners, fire wardens, blackout wardens, restauranteurs, Home Guardsmen, and even Lord Beaverbrook, among others. He was able to travel rather freely so includes visits to Glasgow and Edinburgh in Scotland in addition to a number of English cities. He heads home while the US is still neutral but with even greater sympathy for the British.
October 5, 2017
People living everyday in the midst of war - how England reacted, and pulled together in the midst of the unthinkable. Ernie Pyle shows us the most ordinary details, and they add up to a picture that feels authentic. He describes not the epic heroes - but the everyday ones, which Mr. Pyle says have it harder, because their tasks have to be completed over and over more than a thousand times.
November 10, 2017
Mr. Pyle had a wonderful way of making you care about every single individual he wrote about. A very engaging read about what it was like during the blitz Hitler carried out on Britain to break their spirit, but he never did. Also makes you think about what it would be like if we had bombs dropping on our houses and around our communities. Let's hope it never happens.
August 9, 2018
It was nice to read first hand accounts of Pyle's experiences during the Blitz in Great Britain. I've read fictional accounts before, but this book included information I'd never heard and made me want to learn more.
November 23, 2019
There's a reason he was the best war corespondent
Very well put together. He gives good descriptions of people, places, things and moods. If you want to have a decent idea of what it was like in England around 1940, 41 read this book.
Very well put together. He gives good descriptions of people, places, things and moods. If you want to have a decent idea of what it was like in England around 1940, 41 read this book.
December 8, 2019
An excellent description of why the early days of the war were like for the average person in England. I've read a lot of books about how the war affected the county, but this is the first one about how the war affected individuals. I also love his writing style.
December 5, 2012
I thought it provided an interesting insight into how the people survived the bombing - written, of course, in Pyle's excellent style.
March 10, 2026
Американський репортер Ерні Пайл приїхав в Лондон в розпал бомбардувань 1940-го року, приблизно як їздять в Таїланд скуштувати цвіркунів. Вайб "бідні англійці, але ж як видовищно воно горить!".
Ще ніколи не читала такої легкої та динамічної книжки на таку тему!
В анотації до "Англії у війні" написано "автор захоплено пише про життя британців під час авіанальотів та нічних бомбардувань".
І не збрехали - він реально захоплений від масштабу побаченого та від власного перебування в епіцентрі великих історичних подій. Під час найбільшого обстрілу, стоячи на балконі, з якого видно третину Лондона, він називає палаюче місто та безкінечні літаки з бомбами "найпрекраснішим видовищем, яке я коли-небудь бачив".
Так, йому за це соромно, але.
У книжці жодного надрива, навпаки - суміш помірного співчуття та іронії.
Ця емоційна відстороненість і нам дозволяє подивитися на події зі сторони, не травмуючись цим, а скоріше з цікавістю. Це читається як тревелог, а не як розповідь про жахіття. Він описує, де жив, що їв, як влаштований побут британців та як працює система продуктових карток і які бувають укриття.
Він захоплюється і дивується, як британці звикають до обстрілів, і як столиця тримається. Наприклад, на ранок після чергового великого нальоту він дивиться на Лондон і дивується, що він фактично не змінився:
Або таке, дуже близьке нам:
Або як уряд намагався допомогти людям висипатися, бо обстріли там теж були здебільшого вночі:
Розповідає, що британці оглядають багато укриттів, щоб обрати улюблене, бо у них різний вайб, і готові були проїжджати по 6-8 кілометрів, щоб переночувати саме в тому, яке подобається )
Або таке, іронічне, він пише про свою хворобу:
Протягом чотирьох місяців Ерні Пайл поїздив різними частинами Англії та Шотландії, описав міста, які страждають від щоденних нальотів і такі, що взагалі поки не відчули війни. Побував в укриттях та подивився, як працює ППО. І це супер цікаво порівнювати з нашою дійсністю.
Дуже сподобалося, як він передає атмосферу через замальовки про конкретних "середньостатистичних" людей та сімей, описуючи, чим вони займаються, як живуть та проводять свій час, і що в їхньому житті змінила війна (у декого ці зміни мінімальні).
Загине автор за 4 роки після описаних в книжці подій - коли Америка втягнеться у війну. Він працюватиме на фронті, описуючи, як воюють американці, і потрапить під обстріл.
Мої відгуки - в блозі: https://t.me/npzbvnkngchtn
Ще ніколи не читала такої легкої та динамічної книжки на таку тему!
В анотації до "Англії у війні" написано "автор захоплено пише про життя британців під час авіанальотів та нічних бомбардувань".
І не збрехали - він реально захоплений від масштабу побаченого та від власного перебування в епіцентрі великих історичних подій. Під час найбільшого обстрілу, стоячи на балконі, з якого видно третину Лондона, він називає палаюче місто та безкінечні літаки з бомбами "найпрекраснішим видовищем, яке я коли-небудь бачив".
Так, йому за це соромно, але.
У книжці жодного надрива, навпаки - суміш помірного співчуття та іронії.
Я чув історії про новоприбулих, які проспали свою першу повітряну тривогу, але ніколи не міг подумати, що щось настільки сумне може статися зі мною. Думаю, англійські виробники ліжок повинні попросити мене написати їм відгук.
Ця емоційна відстороненість і нам дозволяє подивитися на події зі сторони, не травмуючись цим, а скоріше з цікавістю. Це читається як тревелог, а не як розповідь про жахіття. Він описує, де жив, що їв, як влаштований побут британців та як працює система продуктових карток і які бувають укриття.
Він захоплюється і дивується, як британці звикають до обстрілів, і як столиця тримається. Наприклад, на ранок після чергового великого нальоту він дивиться на Лондон і дивується, що він фактично не змінився:
Дійсно було зруйноване майно - багато майна, цінного як матеріально, та і дорогого серцю. Були втрачені життя. Але Лондон великий і життів у ньому багато. Краєвид виглядає незмінно. Вулиці переповнені людьми. Життя продовжується, хоч ще минулої ночі здавалося, що це кінець світу.
Або таке, дуже близьке нам:
А ще, вірите чи ні, але усі бояться, що бомба застане їх в туалеті або у ванній.
Або як уряд намагався допомогти людям висипатися, бо обстріли там теж були здебільшого вночі:
Британія виготовила мільйони гумових беруш минулого вересня, коли було дуже багато нальотів, і люди не могли спати. Але громадськість їх не сприйняла. Вони незручні, та й взагалі люди люблять чути, що відбувається.
Розповідає, що британці оглядають багато укриттів, щоб обрати улюблене, бо у них різний вайб, і готові були проїжджати по 6-8 кілометрів, щоб переночувати саме в тому, яке подобається )
Або таке, іронічне, він пише про свою хворобу:
Застуда прикувала мене до ліжка майже на тиждень і я почувався не дуже добре. Але тоді мені й близько не було так погано, як того дня, коли я отримав рахунок від лікаря - тридцять вісім доларів.
Протягом чотирьох місяців Ерні Пайл поїздив різними частинами Англії та Шотландії, описав міста, які страждають від щоденних нальотів і такі, що взагалі поки не відчули війни. Побував в укриттях та подивився, як працює ППО. І це супер цікаво порівнювати з нашою дійсністю.
Дуже сподобалося, як він передає атмосферу через замальовки про конкретних "середньостатистичних" людей та сімей, описуючи, чим вони займаються, як живуть та проводять свій час, і що в їхньому житті змінила війна (у декого ці зміни мінімальні).
Загине автор за 4 роки після описаних в книжці подій - коли Америка втягнеться у війну. Він працюватиме на фронті, описуючи, як воюють американці, і потрапить під обстріл.
Мої відгуки - в блозі: https://t.me/npzbvnkngchtn
September 6, 2019
The Wikipedia entry is as helpful as any to briefly describe Ernie Pyle. He was a "Pulitzer Prize–winning American journalist and war correspondent who is best known for his stories about ordinary American soldiers during World War II."
In this account we have a collection of his newspaper feature pieces he was sending back to the States from the Autumn of 1940 (that's immediately after the Battle of Britain and the start of the blitz), through to the Spring of 1941.
Spending most of his time in London, we have a snap-shot view from the perspective of the overseas visitor and if the past really is a "foreign country", he is an able translator of those events for the present day reader.
He travels up to Scotland, via York and then back down through the English midlands, with his descriptions of devastated Coventry the most moving and heart-breaking.
A brief description of Cardiff and the valleys of South Wales is also included, followed by the damage and impact sustained by Bristol.
Some stilted 1940s language and attitudes remind you that this is a near 80-year-old account but nevertheless, really interesting and revealing reportage and the account of the Home Guard will probably change the way you consider, or watch Dad's Army again.
In this account we have a collection of his newspaper feature pieces he was sending back to the States from the Autumn of 1940 (that's immediately after the Battle of Britain and the start of the blitz), through to the Spring of 1941.
Spending most of his time in London, we have a snap-shot view from the perspective of the overseas visitor and if the past really is a "foreign country", he is an able translator of those events for the present day reader.
He travels up to Scotland, via York and then back down through the English midlands, with his descriptions of devastated Coventry the most moving and heart-breaking.
A brief description of Cardiff and the valleys of South Wales is also included, followed by the damage and impact sustained by Bristol.
Some stilted 1940s language and attitudes remind you that this is a near 80-year-old account but nevertheless, really interesting and revealing reportage and the account of the Home Guard will probably change the way you consider, or watch Dad's Army again.
October 6, 2020
A book of newspaper columns from 1940 such as Ernie Pyle in England hardly needs a 2020 review – other than to highly recommend it. The topic, the first years of World War II, is, of course, no longer current; and the stories don’t really serve any longer as primary source material. So read Ernie Pyle today for his prose, his seemingly effortless beautifully simple & direct prose. It takes great skill to write as Pyle did. The simplicity and ease of his work is inversely proportional to the effort. As Pyle himself noted elsewhere, something to the effect, “writing a column a day should be as easy as falling off a log. Try it sometime.” Ernie Pyle in England is not as poignant as his later work, and his style is not quite as polished as it became. Still, the wordsmithing is unmistakenly Pyle. It is a joy to read and as he seems to let the reader into his inner thoughts & life experiences, it’s impossible to not still grieve for the personal & psychological toll that warfare inflicted on him and his sudden death from Japanese fire on the Pacific island of Okinawa just four months before the end of the war.
July 5, 2023
In this book, Ernie Pyle spends several months in England experiencing civilian life prior to the USA's involvement in the war. It is a fascinating and intimate look at the English mindset and experience during the days following the Blitz. However, it lacks the personal stories that made his later war correspondence so incredibly compelling, instead focusing mainly on his own observations as an American in England.
This book could technically count as Pyle's first work in his WWII series, though this differs from Here is Your War, Brave Men, and Last Chapter in its lack of intimacy with its subjects and in the fact that he spends his time with civilians rather than with military personnel.
As a standalone book about the English experience in WWII, this is more than a decent read. But when compared to the far more powerful Here is Your War, Brave Men, and Last Chapter, this is a difficult to find compelling.
This book could technically count as Pyle's first work in his WWII series, though this differs from Here is Your War, Brave Men, and Last Chapter in its lack of intimacy with its subjects and in the fact that he spends his time with civilians rather than with military personnel.
As a standalone book about the English experience in WWII, this is more than a decent read. But when compared to the far more powerful Here is Your War, Brave Men, and Last Chapter, this is a difficult to find compelling.
February 16, 2023
Eighty-plus years later, the book remains a fascinating view of the character and resiliency of the people of the UK at what is perhaps the most difficult period in their modern history. My first visit to London was in the 1970’s. While on an Initial bus tour of the city proper, there were still instances of city blocks with vacant lots in rows of otherwise older buildings. On subsequent visits over the years most of those appear to be now occupied by clearly much newer structures. History books in the US schools today devote only a paragraph or two to the Blitz. Ernie Pyle’s works remain exceptionally relevant in 2023. My father and uncles were WWII vets and spoke almost reverentially about him when I was growing up. He was right up there at the top along with Gen. Eisenhower (and Bob Hope).
July 26, 2018
Even in descriptions of death and destruction, “Ernie Pyle in England” is poetic in his writings. The horror seems as if it is lifted in prayer for those who perished, prayers for England and for the War to end. Ernie Pyle wrote about the people living in the United Kingdom as the bombs rained down upon them in London, Scotland, Wales. He wrote about how those in the different sections of cities lived, how private bomb shelters varied from public shelters. How different classes reacted when they needed to mix in bomb shelters in for the good of the Country and their attitudes toward sharing those shelters. This was a different book about the beginning days of World War Il and the Blitz on London. Fascinating and very interesting because of the perspectives and personal stories.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 10, 2021
Reliving the Blitz through eyes of a legend
I feel certain the first journalist I ever heard about was Ernie Pyle. My mother idolized him, but never thought her only child would also become a newspaperman. I did. And in 1994 on a trip with my young daughter to Hawaii I visited Pyle’s grave at the Punchbowl. But I had never read a word from the WWII legend until this book.
My wife and I spent a month in the UK a few years ago and loved it, and this book provides a view of that land and its people at its best. As such, Pyle’s England of 1940-41 very much informs what the country remains today.
So though written 80 years ago, it offers a useful and fascinating look into that era and is still meaningful today.
I feel certain the first journalist I ever heard about was Ernie Pyle. My mother idolized him, but never thought her only child would also become a newspaperman. I did. And in 1994 on a trip with my young daughter to Hawaii I visited Pyle’s grave at the Punchbowl. But I had never read a word from the WWII legend until this book.
My wife and I spent a month in the UK a few years ago and loved it, and this book provides a view of that land and its people at its best. As such, Pyle’s England of 1940-41 very much informs what the country remains today.
So though written 80 years ago, it offers a useful and fascinating look into that era and is still meaningful today.
Read
August 30, 2024Fascinating look at how life was like for an American journalist at the start of World War II as England encountered the German "Blitz."
Ernie Pyle is not someone you would know if you are not a student of World War II. Pyle was a prolific American journalist of the war from the soldier's point of view--and in this book, from the ordinary citizen's view around Britain who were being impacted by the war.
The book is written from a journal-essay format, which I seem to like because it gives the reader a sense of being in London and Britain at this moment in history.
Ernie Pyle is not someone you would know if you are not a student of World War II. Pyle was a prolific American journalist of the war from the soldier's point of view--and in this book, from the ordinary citizen's view around Britain who were being impacted by the war.
The book is written from a journal-essay format, which I seem to like because it gives the reader a sense of being in London and Britain at this moment in history.
March 10, 2026
Ernie Pyle in England
This was the first time I have read something by Ernie Pyle. I had forgotten about him and read something about him in an article by Don Surber, so I decided to give one of his books a read. I was born during WWII and my mother used to talk about Ernie Pyle all the time with sadness in her voice. His reporting of the war in and around London was very matter-of-the-fact and straightforward. I appreciated the book…and Ernie also.
This was the first time I have read something by Ernie Pyle. I had forgotten about him and read something about him in an article by Don Surber, so I decided to give one of his books a read. I was born during WWII and my mother used to talk about Ernie Pyle all the time with sadness in her voice. His reporting of the war in and around London was very matter-of-the-fact and straightforward. I appreciated the book…and Ernie also.
November 13, 2022
It gave me such a great insight into the day-to-day life in Britain under Germany's attacks from the sky during the Battle of Britain. Ernie Pyle has a great, folksy writing style. I found it so great I gifted a version of it to my grandfather, who lived as a 16-year-old boy during that time in Holland. He loved it too.
June 2, 2017
Good book
I liked this book very much. I suggested it to my husband, history buff and Ernie Pyle fan, and he suggested it to me, reader of great stories. We were both entertained and informed and got equal satisfaction from it.
I liked this book very much. I suggested it to my husband, history buff and Ernie Pyle fan, and he suggested it to me, reader of great stories. We were both entertained and informed and got equal satisfaction from it.
January 14, 2019
Outstanding! This compilation of first hand correspondence from Ernie Pyle during the blitz is insightful, inspiring and emotional. A great time locked view of history. Real people. Real moments. “Dear Hitler - Thanks for the criticism. Yours, Low.”
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews