Wow. Following the Front is a compilation of WWII dispatches written by Sidney A. Olson for TIME and LIFE magazines, 1944-1945. Olson followed the Allied Forces through Europe as they defeted the Nazis. He typed up his reports and sent them to New York. He also wrote his wife who was staying with her parents in Utah.

As a lifelong history nerd, this collection is so oncredible insightful and thankful for the primary recourses. (the 5 star, top tier, diamond level resource) I love how much Sidney respects General Simpson, commanding general of the Ninth United States Army in northwest Europe and native Texan.

Margot Clark-Junkins writes the column “Following the Front” column on Substack.

Thank you NetGalley andRowman & Littlefield Publishers for an advanced copy! #FollowingtheFront #NetGalley

To say the market for books about World War II is crowded is something of an understatement and it often seems there must be little left to say. However, this book proves that is absolutely not true and does so by going back and publishing the dispatches to Time and Life magazines from Sidney Olsen in 1944-45.

It’s a fascinating book. Sidney himself seems a complete force of nature, a talented writer with limitless energy and ambition (I must admit to feeling a certain amount of sympathy for his beloved wife who seems to have spent a lot of time waving him off or moving the family). As the Second World War progresses, he starts to feel frustrated by not being more closely on hand to report and arranges a tour of the European battlegrounds to be followed by the Far East, and this is where the book really starts to shine.

The beautifully written reports are interspersed with personal letters to his wife or more casual contacts with the magazine management, and range from his arrival in the UK, transfer to Paris and then experiences on the front and through Germany as the war nears it end. He discusses a wide range of subjects, such as the tensions between the US and its allies, the difference of experience between the British population during rationing and the plenty that the Americans seem to have, and the absolute terror of being caught in battle. He meets and talks to both senior and junior members of the armed forces and many civilians of all nationalities and so we get a very broad idea of life for those involved, fighting or not.

Most fascinating to me were the sections depicting the Allied forces moving through Germany as the war reaches its end, including the liberation of Dachau. The complete destruction of some areas of Germany and the relative prosperity of more rural areas, the very mixed reactions of Germans to Hitler and loss and the Allies that some see as liberators, the hatred so many Allied troops felt towards the country and its people, and the range of nationalities moving around Europe following the freedom from camps or slave labour are all brought very vividly to life, as are the absolute horrors of Dachau.

After his experiences up to May 1945, Olson is happy to be brought home and not continue with the planned reports from the Far East and other areas, and its interesting to see what he does next and how his experiences have affected him. There are, of course, some attitudes that are old fashioned but that doesn’t take away at all from an intriguing insight to life during war. An excellent addition to the subject field.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in return for an honest review.