16 Oct 2010 22:45:06
The idea of grouping a bunch of eyewitness historical accounts into a book is not new, but "We Were There: An Eyewitness History of the Twentieth Century" is still a fun read. This selection, edited by Robert Fox, covers mostly the 20th century, from the time of the Wright brothers' flight to the recent mass protests in Iran. Pages in between include accounts of two world wars, communist uprisings, sieges and head-spinning cultural changes.
Readers meet Adolf Hitler, Osama bin Laden and some more inspiring folks, too. Rosa Parks provides an almost matter-of-fact account of the evening she was too tired to stand on the bus, and the doomed Antarctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott writes with heartbreaking desperation about his men as they succumb to exhaustion and cold.
Some of these accounts, like Scott's, are well known, as are many of the authors. George Orwell writes about the Spanish Civil War, Woody Guthrie describes a Dust Bowl storm and Hunter S. Thompson reports on a motorcycle race. But many of the gems here are from forgotten correspondents, like the British World War II prisoner who decides to be a tramp in Germany after his liberation or the hobo describing the perils of jumping boxcars.
Be warned, this book is heavy on war stories — stuff like soldiers getting shelled and shot down from the sky.
There are a few duds, too. John Updike is represented with a meditation on watching the fall of the Twin Towers on Sept. 11 from across the East River. The piece's distant mood is no match for the gripping accounts that were printed by the dozens in the weeks following the tragedy.
But even the less engaging pieces are short. It's easy to flip a few pages to find another fascinating peek into the 20th century.
The idea of grouping a bunch of eyewitness historical accounts into a book is not new, but "We Were There: An Eyewitness History of the Twentieth Century" is still a fun read. This selection, edited by Robert Fox, covers mostly the 20th century, from the time of the Wright brothers' flight to the recent mass protests in Iran. Pages in between include accounts of two world wars, communist uprisings, sieges and head-spinning cultural changes.
Readers meet Adolf Hitler, Osama bin Laden and some more inspiring folks, too. Rosa Parks provides an almost matter-of-fact account of the evening she was too tired to stand on the bus, and the doomed Antarctic explorer Robert Falcon Scott writes with heartbreaking desperation about his men as they succumb to exhaustion and cold.
Some of these accounts, like Scott's, are well known, as are many of the authors. George Orwell writes about the Spanish Civil War, Woody Guthrie describes a Dust Bowl storm and Hunter S. Thompson reports on a motorcycle race. But many of the gems here are from forgotten correspondents, like the British World War II prisoner who decides to be a tramp in Germany after his liberation or the hobo describing the perils of jumping boxcars.
Be warned, this book is heavy on war stories — stuff like soldiers getting shelled and shot down from the sky.
There are a few duds, too. John Updike is represented with a meditation on watching the fall of the Twin Towers on Sept. 11 from across the East River. The piece's distant mood is no match for the gripping accounts that were printed by the dozens in the weeks following the tragedy.
But even the less engaging pieces are short. It's easy to flip a few pages to find another fascinating peek into the 20th century.
