| Edition |
First American edition. |
| Description |
xx, 503 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm |
| Contents |
1940s: Immigrant strain 6 May 1946 -- Damon Runyon's America 27 December 1946 -- Roughing it 15 October 1948 -- Joe Louis 18 March 1949 --Washington, DC 9 September 1949 -- Fall of New England 21 October 1949 -- Letter to an intending immigrant 16 December 1949 -- 1950s: Summer Bachelor 16 June 1950 -- It' s a Democracy, isn't it? 15 June 1951 -- European's America 23 October 1952 -- Getting away from it all 11 September 1953 -- Court and the negro 20 August 1954 -- Colonel of the plains 21 April 1955 -- HLM: RIP 3 February 1956 -- Road to Churchill Downs 8 May 1956 -- Politics and the human animal 7 December 1956 -- General Marshall 16 October 1959 -- 1960s: Beizbol 31 October 1961 -- Robert Frost 1 February 1963 -- Father 22 February 1963 -- Assassination 24 November 1963 -- LBJ 28 November 1965 -- Has the world gone to pot? 15 April 1966 -- John McLaren's folly 24 June 1966 -- Well-dressed American, man! 30 October 1966 -- Lonely man 26 May 1967 -- Vietnam 22 March 1968 -- Bad night in Los Angeles 9 June 1968 -- Telling one country about another 2 March 1969 -- Pegler 29 June 1969 -- 'Eternal Vigilance' - by whom? 19 October 1969 -- 1970s: Letter from Long Island 4 August 1970 - Give thanks, for what? 25 November 1972 -- Duke 31 May 1947 -- End of the affair 11 April 1975 -- I'm all right, Jack 21 May 1976 -- No cabinet officers need apply 24 December 1976 -- Christmas in Vermont 31 December 1976 -- Mr. Olsmsted's park 8 July 1977 -- Retiring kind 9 September 1977 -- Two for the road 23 December 1977 -- Spy that came down in the cold 10 February 1978 -- Letter from Long Islan 18 August 1978 -- Presidential Ear 8 December 1978. |
| Summary |
For over half a century, Alistair Cooke entertained and informed millions of listeners around the world in his weekly BBC radio program Letter from America. An outstanding observer of the American scene, he became one of the world's best-loved broadcasters, and a foreigner who helped Americans better understand themselves. Here, in print for the first time, is a collection of Cooke's finest reports that celebrates the inimitable style of this wise and avuncular reporter. Beginning with his first letter in 1946, a powerful description of American GIs returning home, and ending with his last broadcast in February 2004, in which he expressed his views on the United States presidential campaign, the collection captures Cooke's unique voice and gift for telling stories. Gathered in this volume are encounters with the many presidents Cooke knew, from Roosevelt to Nixon, Reagan, Clinton, and Bush, both Senior and Junior. His friends are warmly recollected among them Leonard Bernstein, Philip Larkin, Humphrey Bogart, Charlie Chaplin, and Katharine Hepburn. We observe a variety of political landmarks the Vietnam War, Watergate, Cooke's remarkable eyewitness account of Robert Kennedy's assassination, through to the scandals that surrounded Clinton and the conflict in Iraq. His moving evocation of the events of September 11 and its aftermath remains essential reading, while his recollections of holidays and sporting events remind us of Cooke's delight in the pleasures of everyday life. Imbued with Alistair Cooke's good humor, elegance, and understanding, Letter from America,1946, 2004 is a captivating insight into the heart of a nation and a fitting tribute to the man who was for so many the most reassuring voice of our times. |
| Subject |
United States -- Civilization -- 1945-
|
| ISBN |
1400044022 |
| Standard No. |
9781400044023 |
|
