World War II, 1939-1942

October 1, 2003
The first volume in the New York Times's new Living History series provides a kaleidoscopic, illustrated vision of the opening years of WWII, from Roosevelt's"quarantine" speech in 1937 to the RAF's Thousand-Plane Raid on Cologne in 1942. Each chapter consists of a short historical introduction by volume editor Rubel, a Times news feature, a contemporary document and one or more Times photographs. The contemporary documents range widely, including a good many letters and speeches not easily accessible today: Hitler's greetings to Mussolini and Wendell Wilkie's denunciation of the massacre at Lidice are just two examples. Other documents include a poem by e. e. cummings, lyrics for Woody Guthrie's song about the destroyer Reuben James (sunk by a U-boat in 1941), and a volunteer's account of her training in the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps. (Another aspect of that training is shown in a photograph of the WAACs running through an obstacle course--in skirts.) The book does contain a few glitches--the Arsenal of Democracy chapter is illustrated by a considerably later (if not inappropriate) shot of the Liberty Ships; the"Battle of Britain" photograph actually shows pre-war Luftwaffe training--and the coverage of the Russian Front is scanty (perhaps inevitably, given the shortage of material at that time). Nonetheless, with its many fascinating primary documents and its fine organization, this volume is a good choice for browsing, an excellent resource for classroom use and a valuable sampler of how key events in the great cataclysm looked at the time.