Books

Item Description

Time Presents Life ‘Our Finest Hour’ (The Triumphant Spirit of America's WW II Generation) (Hardcover)

by Killian Jordan (Author)

Retail:  $29.95

Reviews

Life magazine was only one of many American publications that fielded battlefront correspondents during World War II, but it boasted an uncommonly talented roster of writers and photographers, among them Theodore White, Robert Capa, and Margaret Bourke-White. Their images and reports brought home to American readers the horrors of that distant war, from George Strock's extraordinary photograph of dead American marines on a New Guinea beach to shocking views of the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps. Life's editors also took pains to document the war at home, publishing stories about the contributions of women industrial workers to the war effort (in 1943, the magazine reported, 65 percent of American aircraft-production workers were women) and on the morale-building efforts of Hollywood stalwarts such as Carole Lombard and Bob Hope.

This selection of photographs and extended captions from the pages of Life and other contemporary publications gathers images that have become part of American iconography (such as the Associated Press's famed photograph of the Fighting Sullivans). More usefully, it also includes lesser-known work documenting injustices done to Japanese Americans and African Americans, the sufferings of the wounded, and the loneliness of separation, material overlooked by many other photographic histories of the war. --Gregory McNamee

Product Description
LIFE magazine salutes the bravery and courage of America's World War II veterans with OUR FINEST HOUR, a special deluxe collector's edition celebrating the heroic spirit of "the greatest generation." Who better to retell the vibrant and diverse stories of World War II than LIFE, the magazine that brought news of the war to the home front, and news of home to soldiers around the world?

OUR FINEST HOUR offers stunning photography from LIFE's vast archival library--the largest collection of World War II photographs in the world. This unique book also recounts the moving and personal stories of the Americans who fought in the foxholes, on the high seas and at home. It documents how soldiers, wives, journalists and entertainers were changed by the war experience, and it describes how World War II affected life in America in every possible way--economically, politically, culturally and socially.

LIFE was an eyewitness to the heroism, unity and tragedy of the war years; LIFE remembers every private triumph and rending loss; only LIFE can bring the victory home to you.

From the Inside Flap
World War II presented the United States with an impossible challenge--one that could cost countless lives in any single harrowing instant. Yet we plunged in, body and soul, and somehow found moments of tenderness and warmth.

Here are the stories of those who fought "the good war." Their voices reveal an indomitable spirit, a peculiarly American optimism, even a weary recognition of the war's unstoppable horrors. Throughout it all, U.S. citizens bucked up and carried on--at home and oversees.

The editors of LIFE are proud to bring you this moment of glory in the American experience--in the words of the participants, and in extraordinary photographs that will stay with you forever.

New Hardcover: 192 pages

ISBN-10: 1883013984

ASIN: B0002IF01O

Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 9 x 1 inches

Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds

Item Special Note

Winning Bidder can pick up this item at the Foundation Office, December 1-15th.