| Pogue's War - Diaries of a WWII Combat Historian
(2001)
|
| Front Cover |
Book Details |
|
| Genre |
Non-Fiction |
| Subject |
World War, 1939-1945 - Personal narratives, American; World War, 1939-1945 - Campaigns - Western Front; Pogue, Forrest C. - Diaries; Military Historians - United States - Diaries |
| Publication Date |
2001 |
| Format |
Hardcover (9.4
x
6.0
mm)
|
| Publisher |
Univ. Press of Kentucky |
| Extras |
Dust Jacket; Dust Jacket Cover |
|
| Description |
Foreword by Stephen Ambrose, preface by Franklin D. Anderson.
Forrest Pogue (1912-1996) was undoubtedly one of the greatest World War II combat historians. Born and educated in Kentucky, he is perhaps best known for his definitive four-volume biography of General George C. Marshall. But, as Pogue's War makes clear, he was also a pioneer in the development of oral history in the twentieth century, as well as an impressive interviewer with an ability to relate to people at all levels, from the private in the trenches to the general carrying four stars. Pogue's War is drawn from Forrest Pogue's handwritten pocket notebooks, carried with him throughout the war, long regarded as unreadable because of his often atrocious handwriting. Pogue himself began expanding the diaries a few short years after the war, with the intent of eventual publication. At last this work is being published. Supplemented with carefully deciphered and transcribed selections from his diaries, the heart of the book is straight from the field. Much of the material has never before seen print. From D-Day to VE-Day, Pogue experienced and documented combat on the front lines, describing action on Omaha Beach, in the Huertgen Forest, and on other infamous fields of conflict. He not only graphically -- yet also often poetically -- recounts the extreme circumstances of battle, but he also notes his fellow soldiers' innermost thoughts, feelings, opinions, and attitudes about the cruelty of war. As a trained historian, Pogue describes how he went about his work and how the Army's history program functioned in the European Theater of Operations. His entries from his time at the history headquarters in Paris show the city in the early days after the liberation in a unique light. Pogue's War has an immediacy that much official history lacks, and is a remarkable addition to any World War II bookshelf. |
| Personal Details |
| Store |
American Political Biography Press |
| Purchase Price |
$10.00 |
| Acquire Date |
1/14/2020 |
| Condition |
Very Good/Very Good |
| Rating |
0 |
| Links |
Library of Congress
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| Product Details |
| LoC Classification |
D811.P566 .A3 2001 |
| Dewey |
940.54/8173 |
| ISBN |
9780813122168 |
| No. of Pages |
438 |
| First Edition |
No |
| Rare |
No |
|
| Notes/Review |
I'm a little surprised I didn't come across Forrest Pogue a long time ago. I have (but have not yet read) the third volume of Pogue's biography of George Marshall.
When I saw this book, it was an easy decision to read it. I've read many personal narratives of soldiers, sailors, and airmen as well as books written by newspaper correspondents. This book sort of fits in between those. Unlike a combat correspondent, Pogue was a soldier, attached to headquarters units with the task of interviewing officers in the days after the battles. These interviews were later written up as part of the official unit histories. He was often close enough to the front to get shelled and shot at. He also managed to spend quite a bit of time in liberated Paris.
I'd have liked to learn more about how he did his job. There are a few clues here and there, but a few pages on what exactly he did and why would fascinate me.
One difference between interviews Pogue conducted versus the combat correspondents was the immediacy. Pogue talked to battalion, company, and platoon commanders when their recollections were fresh and they perhaps hadn't had time to digest the events, to mentally reorganize them.
Here's a quote (page 111):
"Interviewing these people was a cruel sort of business that I had always held against newsmen who probed at people's grief. Now here I was prying into a man's vitals when he was dazed, forcing conversation when he would have preferred to hold in check a voice he was not sure he could control. But for us it was an excellent time to get the exact story. Still angry and hurt, they would talk freely, whereas later they would be inclined to evade. Too upset to be prudent, they would strike out at others who shared their blame. Later, when they realized that their chances of making a comeback might depend upon the goodwill of the men who relieved them, or on the suppression of some of their mistakes, they frequently would ask us to change their accounts. Since we did not send our interviews back through channels, where they would be seen by their superiors and held against them, we would rewrite the story and include it with the original. Then we would include a note with the original stating the circumstances under which it had been given. (We were allowed to rewrite interviews, but we never destroyed the originals, and we sometimes added some rather biting comments as to the reasons for the amendments.)" |
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