OT: The Glory of their Times

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

I may be in a very very small minority here, but I thought the book was a mixed bag. While some of the chapters were very good and a few riveting, I found a good chunk of it to be just old guys telling the same old war stories that seemed sketchy at best. A lot of the book sounded to me like barroom tales of days gone by of very dubious veracity. Maybe I've read too many books on the limitations of human memory. After a few years you are basically hearing fictional recreation. Never mind 60 years ago.

I haven't read the book in so long, all I remember is how much I enjoyed it. In putting the audio set together more recently, however, I did listen to all of the original tapes, and some of the players were more "blustery," to put it kindly, than others. Overall, though, I found them to be credible and even surprisingly candid for the most part, seemingly quite interested in getting things straight as best as they could remember them. I suspect that a fact check would reveal them to be about as accurate on the details of events so far in the past as could be reasonably expected. Just how much tolerance a particular reader would have for "old guys telling the same old war stories" is another matter altogether, and would depend in large part on their interest in the subjects at hand. I think I can speak for most fans of "Glory" in my appreciation of the miracle that, despite whatever limitations they might possess, these recollections were preserved by Ritter for future generations to read, hear, and enjoy.