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Letters Of Note - Briefe, Die Die Welt Bedeuten (2014)

by Shaun Usher(Favorite Author)

4.47 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

3453269551 (ISBN13: 9783453269552)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Heyne

review 1: One of my books of the year, I think I can say. It sounds rather lofty - a collection of letters from history - but I haven't reacted to any one book with not only tears and laughter but also feelings of great admiration, warmth and hope for mankind.Currently my colleague is reading it too, at my recommendation and feels just the same.So how does one book manage this? Collected together are letters from various points in time, from various countries and famous and not-so-famous people. The letters themselves are often included. One is an original cuneiform letter from Ancient Egypt. Another a simple note in a long-dead language. one you won't forget shows a coconut shell, that John F Kennedy wrote an SOS note on in World War 2 when stranded on an island, that eventually br... moreought rescue (and eventually made a White House paperweight).I dare you to not cheer as the former slave refuses eloquently to return to his former owner without guarantees and back pay. or to smile as the editor of the Sun convinces a young writer that there IS a Santa Claus.I cried reading the Elephant Man's doctor's words, Virginia Woolf's suicide note for her husband. Scott (of the Antarctic)'s letter "to my widow". Letters from mothers abandoning their babies at foundling homes. The Titanic telegram - no loss of life expected.I laughed at the note condemning Fawlty Towers, one encouraging President Nixon to eat his vegetables, a reply from a 'Top Scientist' to a boy's rocket design.All of humanity is here. Hitler's nephew wanting to fight against his relative. A Japanese kamikaze pilot writing home. Queen Elizabeth sending a drop scone recipe. Crick explaining the recently discovered DNA stricture to his nephew.Need I say more? The content speaks for itself. A book you can dip into or read again and again. It would make a precious gift and really is quite a beautiful object in its hardback, illustrated A4 state.
review 2: This is a hefty book, but the perfect size for reproduction of a multitude of letters. I didn't read every letter from beginning-to-end, but I did read what each letter was about and linger over the photos of the originals, marveling on the penmanship, word choices, and the medium the letters were written on. Some letters made me laugh, others made me cry. By far my favorites were E.B. White's, Roald Dahl's, and Abraham Lincoln's. Absolutely fascinating and engrossing. less

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