War Stories: Review of Home Front Soldier: The Story of a GI and His Italian American Family During World War II. Richard Aquila, ed.

Authors

Michael E. Stevens, Wisconsin Historical Society

Date of this Version

3-2000

Document Type

Article

Citation

Documentary Editing, Volume 22, Number 1, March 2000.

ISSN 2476-1796 (electronic); ISSN 2167-1451 (print)

Comments

2000 © the Association for Documentary Editing. Used by permission.

Abstract

One of the joys of documentary editing is the opportunity to watch stories unfold in the documents. Thus, it is not surprising to see academic and trade presses publishing works aimed at a popular audience that rely heavily on historical texts. In the past several decades, documentary editors have done a remarkable job in creating standards, although most of their energies have focused on scholarly editions. Those efforts have been less successful in reaching those who prepare popular editions. Home Front Soldier is a good example of a work that effectively uses documents to tell a story, yet has not benefited from the application of modern editorial standards.

Boydston Prize for 1999