War Letters

War Letters presents historic, dramatic, personal accounts of both World Wars, the Civil War, Vietnam, Korea, the Cold War, Somalia and the Balkans, revealing in vivid detail what the servicemen and women of America have experienced and sacrificed on the front lines. Read by an all-star cast, including Joan Allen, Tom Brokaw, Rob Lowe, Noah Wyle, and more.

This collection, read by Audie award-winning narrators, includes unabridged recordings of 11 of the most renowned, widely-read, and essential philosophical works from Ancient Greece and Asia to 19th century America, including Meditations, The Republic, and more.

From the time she was a young girl, Luisa Voekler has loved solving puzzles and cracking codes. Brilliant and logical, she's expected to quickly climb the career ladder at the CIA. But while her coworkers have moved on to thrilling Cold War assignments--especially in the exhilarating era of the late 1980s--Luisa's work remains stuck in the past decoding messages from World War II. When Luisa Voekler discovers a secret cache of letters written by the father she has long presumed dead, she learns the truth about her grandfather's work, her father's identity, and why she has never progressed.

For three years Andrew Carroll traveled throughout the United States and around the world to seek out the most powerful and unforgettable letters ever written during US wars.

All for the Union is the astonishing and eloquent diary of Elisha Hunt Rhodes, the Union soldier featured in Ken Burns' highly acclaimed PBS television documentary The Civil War. Enlisting as a private in the 2nd Rhode Island Infantry, Rhodes fought in every major campaign waged by the Army of the Potomac, from Bull Run to Appomattox. Here, in his own powerfully moving words, Rhodes reveals why he was willing to die to preserve his beloved Union.

Martha Gellhorn was a strong-willed, self-made, modern woman whose journalism, and life, were widely influential at the time and cleared a path for women who came after her. An ardent anti-fascist, she wrote about real people doing real things with intelligence and passion. She is most famous, to her enduring exasperation, as Ernest Hemingway's third wife. Long after their divorce, her short tenure as "Mrs. Hemingway" from 1940 to 1945 invariably eclipsed her writing and, consequently, she never received her full due.

It's 1942 and war is raging in Europe and slowly, London is coming undone at the seams. Life as Claire knew it is falling apart all around her. But she's determined to live a full life, to flirt and have fun as if nothing is wrong. And then she meets Thomas, the handsome American soldier, and with him comes the thrill of secrecy and a whirlwind love that sucks her in. She will wait for him forever, if that's what it takes.

When Beth Thompson’s only son, James, goes missing in action in Afghanistan, she is left with her prayers, hopes, fears... and letters. Mother and son have been writing since boot camp. James writes of his struggle to become a confident soldier and of his concern for his young wife and their unborn child. Beth, like any mom, praises her son’s courage even as she frets for his safety. Even after James disappears, Beth is comforted by a daily ritual of writing him about her feelings, faith, and attempts to maintain a normal life when nothing is really normal but the waiting.

As fresh and poignant today as when they were written, these touching letters capture the heart of everyday life during the Civil War. Set both at home in Florida and on the front, the letters were written by two generations of families whose members included radical secessionists, moderates, and even a few Unionists.

A giant in American journalism in the vanguard of "The Greatest Generation" reveals his World War II experiences in this National Geographic book. More than 100 of Cronkite's letters from 1943-45 (plus a few earlier letters) survive. They reveal surprising and little-known facts about this storied public figure in the vanguard of "The Greatest Generation". They chronicle both a great love story and a great war story.

Among the piles of obsolete farm and household implements, haystacks, dust, and debris abandoned in her historic barn, Katie Aldridge discovered a box containing the Civil War letters of Charles Freeman Biddlecom. Painstakingly transcribing and lightly editing more than 100 letters written by the soldier to his wife during his service, Ms. Aldridge resurrected the voice of the Civil War combat soldier. The tone and character of "Charlie's" detailed accounts of the war compelled Ms. Aldridge to find out more.

In May 1861, Virginian Thomas Henry Carter raised an artillery battery and joined the Confederate Army. Over the next four years, he rose steadily in rank from captain to colonel, placing him among the senior artillerists in Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. During the war, Carter wrote more than 100 revealing letters to his wife, Susan, about his service. His interactions with prominent officers - including Lee, Jubal A.Early, John B. Gordon, Robert E. Rodes, and others - come to life in Carter's astute comments about their conduct and personalities.

American soldiers serve willingly. They risk their lives so the rest of us can be safe. The one small thing they ask is that they not be sent into harm's way unless it is absolutely necessary.

A selection of letters written home by a private soldier who served in Iraq, Palestine and other parts of the Middle East during the Second World War. Anthony Rawson was born in October 1919 and grew up in the family home in Watford. When war broke out in 1939 he was working as a gas fitter for the Watford and St. Albans Gas Company. He joined the army in June 1940 but because of his poor eyesight he was not classed as a combatant. Instead he became a fitter, later a vehicle mechanic in what was then the Royal Army Ordnance Corps and spent the next 5 years in the Middle East.

This is a fictional series of letters starting in 1861 between brothers from South Mississippi. The oldest brother, Author, is fighting for the South, while James, the youngest, has run away from home and joined the Union army. The letters between the two brothers, and the girl they are both sweet on, Beth, as well as to their Ma and Pa, are full of horrors of war, the unbelievable cruelties put upon the slaves, and some redeeming qualities of humans mixed in.

When RIP first deployed for Desert Storm, his baby daughter, Vicky, was three months old. RIP wrote heartfelt letters to her for posterity, not knowing if he’d get to see her grow up but wanting to tell her of his hopes and dreams. She grew into a teenager before he retired, and he wrote to her about dealing with life’s curves.

These letters were discovered in an Army Air Force footlocker after being locked away for almost 80 years. Follow the story of one World War 2 Army Air Force soldier, Glenn Max Whitacre, from Bowling Green Ohio through basic training, schooling, combat prep, and into battle.

Letters from Bud is the remarkable firsthand account of the harrowing air war in Europe as told by WW2 flight navigator and bombardier John “Bud” Brandenburg, in his letters home during the conflict, from 1944-45. With guts, wit, and grace, Brandenburg records his experiences with the daring “Koltun crew”, which flew 30 missions over Europe. Through numerous strokes of fate, the crew survived a run of missions with the “bloody” 492nd Bomb Group, a unit that endured an 80 percent casualty rate as the men faced down the seemingly unstoppable German Luftwaffe.

These letters were discovered in an Army Air Force footlocker after being locked away for almost 80 years. Follow the story of one World War 2 Army Air Force soldier, Glenn Max Whitacre, from Bowling Green Ohio through basic training, schooling, combat prep, and into battle. He wrote home almost every day to keep in touch with his family, his friends, and the girl he loved. While also sharing details of everyday military life, as he prepares for, and eventually enters into the battle.

This memoir is based on handwritten letters, cards, and newspaper clippings sent between Carole and Bill Wagener from September 1968 to August 1969. The vernacular is accurate to that time, using words that are no longer politically correct.