A fascinating read, but at 1002 pages unnecessarily long. There are details which do not add to an understanding of the man or his thoughts. Is it really necessary for him to tell the reader, every time he drives to New York City, which car he takes and where he parks? This is symptomatic of much of the data, particularly in the early years of the diary.

Nevertheless, it is well worth reading. The style of writing changes once the US enters the war and he takes up various defense related duties. The pages on his time in war-time South Pacific are much more narrative than his earlier diary entries. His obvious interest in his work there, including combat missions, comes through. Similarly, his post-war travels to Germany are also revealing of the man. ( )

For a man whose mind ran to scientific discovery, courageous endeavor, and energetic living, it would not be expected to find him a skilled writer as well. These journal entries written between the years of 1938 and 1945 were kept intentionally by Lindbergh to record a time he recognized would be of great historical importance. The early sections on prewar Europe, prewar United States and his work in the Ford plants would be tedious were it not for the sharp writing and the descriptions of events not open to many. His and Anne's opposition to the war give us a window into the America First organization and their much-criticised activites to keep us neutral. But it is Lindbergh's Pacific adventures where his writing shines combining his great love for flying, an observant eye and photographic memory. "I looked down on a mountain stream cascading throught the jungle--a raveled white thread on a cloth of green--the heart of the New Guinea jungle, not even charted on the map until this war started, an area known only to natives and explorers, the objective of long, hazardous and carefully organized expeditions. Now we were flying over it as a matter of course, oblivious to the hardships and the romance, the solitude and the beauty of those jungle-covered mountains--four Lightnings cruising swiftly toward the enemy bases of Jefman and Samate--carrying violent death through the sky on the opposite side of the world from home." It was here in the Pacific that Lindbergh showed an obsession with what he found to be the unfair treatment of Japanese prisoners. Wherever he traveled over the Pacific he seemed to inquire of stories of mistreatment and torture. While in Europe a few weeks after the armistice he made a startling, self-revealing comparison of the sights in a newly liberated concentration camp to what he saw of our troops in the Pacific. A very complex, talented man who sincerely feared that the war would bring an end to Western Civilization, but once it began did all he could to help the airmen with the multiple problems arising from a hasty construction schedule at the beginning of the war. An absorbing 1000 page volume. ( )

Sometimes you find a book at just the right time. I was reading Lindberg's biography, then found this in a garage sale the same week. It was hard to believe he actually fought in the Pacific, with no military appointment (could he have been considered McArthur's mercernary). The America First year entries and antiSemetic entries are not edited, and explains a lot of the thought processes not only of LIndberg, but of Hoover who met with him. I also on another level find this an excellent example for anyone writing a diary. The way he moves between writing about international figures with whom is is meeting, and then about his children...little boy learning to swim, pet turtles.

One entry that facinated me was his reflection on selling his Franklin car of 9 years in favor of a Ford (Ford tried 3 motors before selling it). How many of us remember our cars. What a good model for a diary entry about a favorite car.

The book was published in 1970 and I wonder how many people at the time were interested in these entries.

I also have his wife's diaries from the same period. ( )

Book Description: 1970 1st. 32 pp. photos. New York: Harcourt Brave Jovanovich, 1970. First edition.