The War, Geoffrey C. Ward
The War, Geoffrey C. Ward
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The War
An Intimate History, 1941-1945

Author: Geoffrey C. Ward, Ken Burns

Narrator: Ken Burns

Abridged: 8 hr 49 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/11/2007

Synopsis

The companion volume to the magnificent seven-part PBS series

The individuals featured in this audiobook are not those of historians or scholars. They are ordinary men and women who experienced–and helped to win–the most devastating war in history, in which between 50 and 60 million lives were lost.

Focusing on the citizens of four towns–Luverne, Minnesota; Sacramento, California; Waterbury, Connecticut; Mobile, Alabama–The War follows more than forty people from 1941 to 1945. Woven largely from their memories, the compelling, unflinching narrative unfolds month by bloody month, with the outcome always in doubt. The iconic events are here, but we also move among prisoners of war, defense workers and schoolchildren, and families who struggled simply to stay together.

An intimate, profoundly affecting chronicle of the war that shaped our world, The War captures the American experience of World War II through the words and deeds, thoughts and feelings of those who made history on the battlefields and on the home front.

About The Author

Ken Burns, producer and director of the film series The War, founded his own documentary company, Florentine Films, in 1976. His films include Jazz, Baseball, and The Civil War, which was the highest-rated series in the history of American public television. His work has won numerous prizes, including the Emmy® and Peabody Awards, and two Academy Award® nominations. He lives in Walpole, New Hampshire.Geoffrey C. Ward wrote the script for the film series The War and is the winner of five Emmys® and two Writers Guild of America awards for his work for public television. He is also a historian and biographer and the author of fourteen books, including most recently Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson. He won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 1989 and the Francis Parkman Prize in 1990. He lives in New York City.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Roy on August 05, 2019

I think I understand what military fame is: to be killed on the field of battle and have your name misspelled in the newspapers. —William Tecumseh Sherman This documentary was long overdue. Aside from the basic overview, my knowledge of the American Civil War was embarrassingly sketchy; and I had also......more

Goodreads review by N.N. on March 26, 2018

I eagerly watched the Series when it debuted on PBS last century and was blown away by the quality and became a fan of Ken Burns then. This book was never on my radar and I have a superb Civil War library but now I am proud to have this comprehensive history in a place of honor. This book does a su......more

Goodreads review by Michael on May 17, 2024

This book has the complete text from the PBS Civil War documentary by Ken Burns. Including several essays by Civil War historians. I really liked the 23-page interview which Ken Burns did with Civil War historian Shelby Foote who published a three-volume book about the Civil War which took him 20 ye......more

Goodreads review by Fred on October 21, 2015

Fantastic. This and "Battle Cry of Freedom" are the best books I have read about the Civil War. This one will satisfy the part of you that wants visuals more, with lots of great old photos.......more

Goodreads review by Geoff on November 29, 2008

You may have purchased this book when Ken Burns' classic and genre defining documentary was broadcast. And you may have relegated this book to your coffee table because it is a big, heavy volume. But please, get it off the table, sit comfortably, put it in your lap and read it. It has hundreds of pi......more

Quotes

“Ken Burns has done it again. He has given us an intimate, memorable, and provocative portrait of America in World War II—the valor and victory, sacrifice and shame of ordinary Americans, north, south, east, and west. This is a treasure.” —Tom Brokaw

“Heartrending...Unique not only among previous volumes that have accompanied Burns’s documentaries but among just about any book on World War II.... It should be read by everyone in the family, from the high-schoolers to the Baby Boomers.” —Newark Star-Ledger

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