From the North African desert to the bloody stalemate in Italy, from the D-Day beaches to the freezing retreat during the Battle of the Bulge, a group of highly courageous correspondents covered the war against Nazi Germany. Based on a wealth of previously untapped sources, War Beat, Europe provides the first comprehensive account of what these reporters witnessed, what they were allowed to publish, and how their reports shaped the home front’s perception of some of the most pivotal battles in American history. In a dramatic and fast-paced narrative, the book moves from the inner councils of g ... More

From the North African desert to the bloody stalemate in Italy, from the D-Day beaches to the freezing retreat during the Battle of the Bulge, a group of highly courageous correspondents covered the war against Nazi Germany. Based on a wealth of previously untapped sources, War Beat, Europe provides the first comprehensive account of what these reporters witnessed, what they were allowed to publish, and how their reports shaped the home front’s perception of some of the most pivotal battles in American history. In a dramatic and fast-paced narrative, the book moves from the inner councils of government, where Franklin D. Roosevelt and George Marshall held clear views about how much blood and gore Americans could stomach, to the command centers in London, Algiers, Naples, and Paris, where many reporters were stuck with the dreary task of reporting the war by communiqué. At the heart of the book is the epic journey of such reporters as Wes Gallagher and Don Whitehead of the Associated Press, Drew Middleton of the New York Times, Bill Stoneman of the Chicago Daily News, and John Thompson of the Chicago Tribune; of columnists like Ernie Pyle and Hal Boyle; and of photographers like Margaret Bourke-White and Robert Capa. These men and women risked their lives on countless occasions to report World War II to a grateful home-front audience.