Letters of the Century: America 1900-1999

by Stephen J. Adler (Editor), Lisa Grunwald (Editor)

"Immediate and evocative, letters witness and fasten history, catching events as they happen," write Lisa Grunwald and Stephen J. Adler in their introduction to this remarkable book.  In more than 400 letters from both famous figures and ordinary citizens, Letters of the Century encapsulates the people and places, events and trends that shaped our nation during the last 100 years.

Here is Mark Twain's hilarious letter of complaint to the head of Western Union, an ecstatic letter from a young Charlie Chaplin upon receiving his first movie contract, Einstein's letter to Franklin Roosevelt warning about atomic warfare, Mark Rudd's "generation gap" letter to the president of Columbia University during the student riots of the 60s, and a letter from young Bill Gates imploring hobbyists not to share software so that innovators can make some money...

In these pages, our century's most celebrated figures become everyday people and everyday people become part of history. Here is a veteran's wrenching letter left at the Vietnam Wall, a poignant correspondence between two women trying to become mothers, a heart-breaking letter from an AIDS sufferer telling his parents how he wants to be buried, an indignant e-mail from a PC user to his on-line server...    

"Letters," write Grunwald and Adler, "give history a voice."  Arranged chronologically by decade, illustrated with over 100 photographs, Letters of the Century creates an extraordinary chronicle of our history, through the voices of the men and women who have lived its greatest moments.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Anthologies, Reference, American History, Literature

752 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

Reviews

[Lenny Husen · Rating 5 out of 5]

My wonderful cousin bought me this book a couple of years ago, and as it spans 100 years and is 676 pages long, I couldn't get to it until this year.
Some of these letters are so wonderful, it was a delight and a privilege to read them, most especially the ones by famous people and the ones by nonfamous people who wrote eyewitness accounts of big current events at the time.
Criticism: Some letters are tedious and some I don't think should have been included, and the last 30 years of the 1900's must have been really boring, based on the letters they were able to find and put in the book.
I would say from 1900 to 1970 was by far the better portion of the book, and it went rapidly downhill from there, with the quality of the letters decreasing from there.
Why 5 stars: Because this is a GREAT BOOK to have around for reference. I can't wait to show some of these letters to my grandkids someday who ask a question about an event in the 1900's, for a school project for example. Or if they do a report on the 1940's for example, what an awesome way to "get a feel" for the decade.
I am very glad I read it and I marked all the fantastic letters with 2 stars and all the noteworthy ones with 1 star. I would stay about every 3rd or 4th letter has at least one star.
The authors wrote FABULOUS introductions to each letter so that the reader understands the context and reason for the letter being written. HUGE help (and sometimes the intros were way more interesting than the actual letter).
I grew up very uneducated as far as history, geography and politics because I attended poor-quality public schools and since my parents didn't discuss current events with me.

I found myself reading this book and frequently a light would go on in my brain, "OH, THAT's What The Oliver North-Iran-Contra scandal was about, I never understood that" as an example. Or, "wow, Martin Luther King Jr. really deserves to have streets named after him, he TOTALLY ROCKED."

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely fascinating and wonderful book. Each and every letter is poignant, moving and informative. I actually found this hidden on my bookshelf. It it rare for me to have an unread book in my house. I have over 2100 double and triple shelved on bookcases throughout the house. I have the greatest admiration for Lisa Grumwald and Stephen J. Adler (wife and husband editors). There are exactly 417 letters in this incredible book and I laughed, cried, rejoiced and mourned every single one. I was crushed when I read the final entry. Famous people from Martin Luther King, Jr., John Steinbeck, Charlie Chaplin, every President and some Vice-Presidents, movie stars, authors and business executives including Rockefellers, Morgans and Andrew Carnegie to regular people just living their lives. Some of them haunted my sleep - the white, upper class thirty-five Mother of two who contracted AIDS from her Husband, the woman in the early 1900's who experienced her first winter in South Dakota, the parents of the twenty-year old who had an abortion, Robin to Her Unborn Child, soldiers during every War, athletes, entertainers, movie moguls and on and on and on. As a (former) avid letter-writer I was so emotionally moved by the old fashioned letter writing form of communication. Next to face-to-face conversations letters are a true form of sharing. The stories each letter tells cannot be expressed in e-mails or text messages. I am so glad I have this book (thank you so much Tori) and that I re-discovered it hidden in the back. My new thing is to shift all of my shelved books in the hopes I will find another treasure. Magnificent.

[Erik · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my all time favorites. This is a collection of actual letters of the 20th century, listed chronologically. These are letters from and to both famous and "everyday" people, that help define and clarify our history. A great collection!

[Bethany DuVal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is such a delightful time capsule, containing letters from people weak and powerful, famous and anonymous, verbose and to the point. You’ll see familiar historical events from new perspectives and probably learn about events you’d never heard of! The letters are inspiring, sobering, funny, and maddening, but always a treat to read.

[Sarita · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am constantly re-reading the letters in this book. The letters are funny, sobering, and intriguing in turn, but they are always revealing. My favorites:

* Groucho Marx negotiating with his production company
* Marianne Moore trying to name a new model for a car company (and having repeated rejections)
* Desperate poor women begging Margaret Sanger for help in preventing or stopping their pregnancies
* The letters for help to Eleanor Roosevelt
* Teddy Roosevelt's letters to his kids
and, above all, Clyde Barrow (of Bonnie & Clyde)'s letter to Henry Ford:

Dear Sir:

While I still have breath in my lungs I will tell you what a dandy car you make. I have drove exclusively when I could get away with one. For sustained speed and freedom from trouble the Ford has got ever other car skinned and even if my business hasen't been strictly legal it don't hurt anything to tell you what a fine car you got in the Ford V-8.

Yours truly,
Clyde Champion Barrow

[Cortney · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very interesting book--a great look into history and an eye-opener into what letter writing could and should be like. It is nice to sit and read one or two letters at a time, and I am finding there are lots of opportunities for research to better understand the things these people talk about, although it is not necessary to simply enjoy their writings. The book contains letters from famous as well as ordinary people throughout the century, a very well rounded compilation.

[Valaree · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE this book! The mere concept is almost overwhelming, but the authors have done a exemplary job in presenting 100 years of American history. Each and every primary source letter selection opens our eyes and hearts to life in each decade. You don't have to read the book from cover to cover; you can zoom to a certain decade and focus on that particular ten years. Be sure to read the Introduction as the authors explain their rationale and selection criteria. Well done authors!

[Annette · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love, love, love this book! I've read it and reread it often. It's an amazing collection of notable and everyday correspondences. Somehow these glimpses into moments in people's lives thread together to provide a startling sense of the fabric of the century.

[Nick Black · Rating 3 out of 5]

fun escapist voyeurism, but some very questionable editing. there's little rhyme or reason as to the editors' selection methodology or sourcing, and no real theme. there is also a claim that broccoli was "introduced" in 1928, in the same sense that "chewing gum" and "Mickey Mouse" were, which seems rather dubious on its face.

inclusion of an aggressively misspelled letter to, I shit you not, the Tooth Fairy almost dropped this down to two stars.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding book! Highly recommend. Great historical perspective told thru curated letters from each decade 1900-1999. Kept on table and read a bit with breakfast each day. Very educational, informative and entertaining.

[Haley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m including this because of the length-it was read for my Letters class and while we didn’t read every letter, we read what the teachers believed was important and made a considerable dent in the book.

[John Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

An odd read for me, some letters were very interesting. Dr. Martin Luther King's for example, some were funny, some were sad but overall I got less out of this than I expected.

[Anna Shaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read much of this for work. Such cool letters in this!! Laughed out loud at some.

[The_J · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Great sweep of history

[Elizabeth McDonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

I marked this as "read" but truthfully haven't read all of it - this is a large (dictionary-sized) book consisting entirely of letters written by various Americans between 1900 and 1999. This is a treasure trove of variety. Some of the letters are famous in and of themselves, such as Harry Truman's brief note to the Secretary of War in 1945, telling him to "Release when ready / but not sooner than / August 2." Some show more intimate or personal sides of famous individuals, like a letter from Nixon's daughter to her father a few nights before he resigned office. Still others are from unknown, everyday Americans, such as a long letter from a San Francisco shopkeeper writing to his sister in 1906 to tell of his safety after the great earthquake, or a young woman in the '70s telling her parents that she plans to move in with her boyfriend even though she knows they won't like it. (Their response is in the book as well. They didn't like it at all.)

Part of the fascination of the book is the juxtaposition of the letters. As they are arranged chronologically, they jump around in subject matter. A dry note from a head Klansman to the rest of the KKK in 1922 (announcing an audit of finances, such as "Robes ordered and received; Robes ordered and not received") is followed immediately by a letter to Margaret Sanger from an anonymous mother of two small children desperate not to have any more mouths to feed ("I am just slowly killing myself. So I am writing to you, Mrs. Sanger, if you will only do something to help me."). Skimming through the book, I start to feel a sense of how many different American narratives there were, weaving simultaneously through the same days.

[Karen Mead · Rating 3 out of 5]

Frequently fascinating, but sometimes frustrating. Some events of great historical significance are covered in multiple letters, giving the reader several different angles on what happened, while others are passed over. I realize the editors were limited by what kinds of letters they could dig up (and they had to be contemporary letters; stuff written after-the-fact didn't make the cut), but some ommissions still seemed startling. Really, they couldn't find one letter on the moon landing?

Plus, there are lot of areas where the coverage seems to be missing something. For example, there are multiple letters covering the scientific development of the atomic bomb, but very little covering what happened after the bomb was dropped. Also, some memos that are included for historical significance are actually rather boring in and of themselves; you know all the interesting stuff happened either before or after the official memo was sent.

All that said, there's some great stuff in here. The letters from soldiers during WW1, WWW2 and Vietnam are always worth reading (and certainly help put a lot of current events in perspective), and some of the humorous additions-- like Harry Truman's furious letter to a newspaper critic who dared criticize his daughter's singing debut-- are great fun. I guess I just wish the selection of letters had a little more breadth in places.

[Sa Schmidt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading through a great chunk of American life and history that is written in this book--- some make you laugh, some cry. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

There are so many great letters that it is hard to pick just one to talk about.  The letter of Irving Fisher to his wife in 1904 was a lovely sentimental letter.  I liked the Christmas gift ideas here given by the husband about making themselves Christmas presents to each other by keeping good health himself and his wish for the same present in return from her the next Christmas.  That's a loving marriage. 

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a collection of letters which were written by people famous and mundane alike. The letters generally revolved around important historical happenings or inventions, but are often quite personal and paint a picture of the times in which they were written. I highly recommend this book to anyone who misses the art of letter writing or would like to introduce it to their children.

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so surprised that only 22 members list this title. It is a wonderful trip through the 20th Century. Even if there are not specific details in the letters related to the time of writing, the context comes through. It makes me sorry that letter writing is a lost art form. In 2100 will there be a book: LOL: txt of 21 C?

[Tina Haglund]

I'm dipping into this here and there but its Fascinating! Especially reading letters written 100 yrs ago that sound like they were written today. Everyone from Presidents to regular joes represented here!

[Walter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Justin and I read these to each other over the course of the year - almost without exception I enjoyed the letters. The gem, in my opinion, is the ridiculous letter from Hemingway to Fitzgerald...reads like a parody but isn't.

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting collection of letters across all walks of life and subjects - politics, personal, sports, cime, etc. Touches on major themes by decade, e.g. economic collapse in the 30's, AIDS in the 80's, war in the 40's. Fun and easy to read.

[K.C. Wilder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Voyeurism for history buffs! I took my time reading this whenever I had a few minutes here and there, and I found it immensely satisfying - though it did make me a bit sad that letter-writing has become a lost art. What will be left of us when we pass on? Our Facebook statuses?

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating letters by Presidents, soldiers, their families, college students, authors, ordinary men and women, and a few children arranged in chapters by decades and depicting the many events of the 1900's. I own the other book, Women's Letters and highly recommend both.

[Elisabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love reading other people's letters. The style of the times is so interesting and the caring and time is a long lost art.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Real letters from real people spanning the 20th century, documenting everything from war to intimate love letters. Like being a fly on the wall of other people's lives.

[Natasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

golden little pieces of history...

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book of letters written by famous, infamous, and everyday people in America during 1900-1999. This is a book I love to flip through and read bit by bit.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Took me a while to complete but I thoroughly enjoyed this unique look at the history of the century!

[Michael Tuggle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible collection of letters written in the 20th Century. Sad to think that with email, there won't be a book like this in the year 2100.