Alistair Cooke
(1908-2004)
For all you Kindle-toting history buffs, Amazon's deal of the day is Alistair Cooke's The American Home Front 1941-1942. It is an account of his trip across America to report for British readers what was happening in this country after the attack on Pearl Harbor as the nation was going to war.You may know Mr. Cooke, the famous British journalist and broadcaster, from PBS Masterpiece Theater which he hosted from 1971 through 1992.
Apparently, this manuscript was packed away and not looked at again until it turned up shortly before Mr. Cooke died in 2004. It was discovered in his New York apartment and eventually published in 2006.
Better late than never, I'd say.
For his trip, he set out from Washington D.C., traveled through the South, on out to California (where he witnessed with disgust the Japanese internment camps), and back through Denver, Kansas City and through the northern war-industrial towns.
Knowing Mr. Cooke, it is a clearly written record of that time in American history. And with the slight edge of a British perspective as a bonus. For $1.99, I think it will be a wonderful addition to my Kindle library.
