Captured by History: One Man's Vision of Our Tormented Century

Popular historian John Toland (1912-2004) discusses his life in this moving 1997 autobiography. Toland describes his Wisconsin upbringing and his early ambition to be a playwright. That never happened, but as a young hobbyist he revised plays and movies, honing his skills. That helped him later when he wrote several nicely readable books of history. Toland's method involved interviewing dozens of participants anonymously, adding needed research, then skillfully weaving all into a solid narrative. This methodology was criticized by academia, but the public sure enjoyed the results. Readers see how the author's RISING SON about Imperial Japan won the 1971 Pulitzer Prize, while his best-selling 1976 biography HITLER brought him financial independence. The author also covers his personal life, his Japanese wife, living abroad, etc. This book is partly autobiography, and partly a look at the tumultuous 20th Century. John Toland was a non-academic like Barbara Tuchman and William L. Shirer, who wrote superbly readable, best-selling history. All three were criticized by jealous (and often boring) academic historians, but luckily all three kept writing. Readers might also enjoy Toland's other books, including DILLINGER DAYS, INFAMY, BATTLE: STORY OF THE BULGE, NO MAN'S LAND, THE LAST 100 DAYS, etc.

This book was first published in 1997 by author John Toland who wrote it at age 84 as his autobiography. I located a copy recently and began reading a very interesting almost year by year description of this man's controversial and never dull life.The first one hundred pages feature a lengthy portrait of a young man growing up in the twenties and thirties with little money, a thirst for learning and adventure (he enjoyed summers as a hobo riding the rails across America) and dreams of becoming a writer of novels and plays. I had never heard of John Toland and was beginning to dislike him a little, especially after he shares his experiences as an enlisted man in the army and appears to be rather boastful. He never sees combat. He is in the entertainment division and directs shows for the soldiers at American training camps. He did, however, apply for and received officer's training. I realize now he simply made the most of the jobs he was given.Eventually, I came to admire him as he was always ambitious, took advantage of opportunities, and began to write non fiction beginning with a book entitled Ships In The Sky, about dirigibles. Suddenly he realized he could use his writing talent as a historian and thus began, in his forties, to give us the real deal, based on extensive research with real people, of what the world was like during the thirties and forties and beyond.The remainder of the book deals with his research and interviews with each of his books of historical non fiction and I felt as if I were reading The History Channel ! His second wife, Toshiko, is to be admired for her loyalty and dedication to her husband. She transcribed, typed, encouraged and was with him all the way as he tells us about The Battle of the Bulge, The Rise and Fall of the Japanese Empire, Adolph Hitler, the Last 100 days of World War II, and many others. He even writes a book about John Dillinger and his criminal life in America. In fact he was so eager to write that he looked forward to a next book immediately after completing one.There is a difference in this author. He interviewed literally hundreds of people on both "sides" of his subject. He doesn't insert his "self" but lets the person, be it Adolph Hitler's relative, Tito's wife, or a German general, tell their story from their viewpoint. After reading this book, I now want to read other books by this author. He doesn't insert his own judgments. His chapters on each of his books are not boring at all but rather eye-opening. If truth is stranger than fiction, here it is.This is not a book one picks up and reads straight thru. In fact, much of it is depressing. What a waste World War 2 was. What a loss of life. why? Can this generation make similar mistakes? Questions, questions. This is thought provoking material.I recommend this book for readers who love good autobiographies. Since John Toland kept meticulous records, tapes of interviews, had excellent organization with his notes, and

From his humble origins to his current status as an elder statesman of contemporary historians, any student of life and history has to stand in awe of John Toland's life and accomplishments. Here is the incredibly interesting story of a self-made man, someone who rose to the top based on native ability, sheer guts and talent, and who admits to having had the fates shine their collective everlasting lights on him. "Captured By History" is a very entertaining and quite fascinating book! No one would have suspected that this quiet and unassuming boy would turn out to be one of the best-loved and widely read popular historians of the century; Toland has little or no formal training as a historian. In this autobiographical journey he evolves from being an amateur writer fortunate enough to graduate in the depths of the Depression from Williams College, a small but exclusive college in western Massachusetts to a vagabond lifestyle of riding the rails during the Depression and attempting to start a life as a professional playwright. But the intervention of fate in the way of World War two and his experiences led to him to attempt to tell the stories of the men and women he had served with, and as a result he became one of several outstanding popular historians like William Shirer and Cornelius Ryan who enjoyed the wide readership and popular support for thirty or forty years after the war. Toland wrote about aspects of the war after painstaking research on each subject, spending years traveling, interviewing, and documenting before finally writing a particular book. And the books sold, from "Infamy" to "Rising Sun" to "The Last Hundred Days" to "battle" to his phenomenal best seller, "Adolph Hitler".Toland's style was always unorthodox to most historians, since he did not attempt to make his own 'objectively based' judgments of what had happened in any particular set of historical circumstances, but rather would exhaustively interviewed eye-witnesses and actual participants of events and let them tell the story in their own words, with him acting brilliantly as an integrating narrator to string the story together as non-judgmentally as possible. He trusted the reader's native intelligence and ability to screen out the garbage from the flowers of the truth, and evidently the readers loved the approach, for he was phenomenally successful in his long and distinguished writing career. This, therefore, is an unusual chronicle of a most singular life spent in fascinating obsession by a rather unorthodox and quite different sort of person. Yet the spellbinding stories revealed here about everyone from Adolph Hitler to the Emperor of Japan make this a spellbinding experience to read, and an objective lesson as to how a person with determination, some native talent and a lot of gumption can come to fashion and hew a life of his own making in his own terms. This is a great book for the lover of biographies and for anyone ti

Recently I found "The Rising Sun" in a used book store. After reading it, I was hooked on John Toland. So I started "In Mortal Combat" and found it so compelling I read it even while brushing my teeth.As a John Toland fan, I was especially interested in "Captured by History," because he tells how he wrote the other books--how he found the close friends of Adolph Hitler, how he persuaded the key Japanese to tell, for the first time, the roles they played in World War Two. John Toland's book is valuable for writers, because it contains lessons in interviewing and organizing.It is an inspiration for anyone struggling to achieve a goal. Do you ever feel like a failure? Well, Toland, one of the greatest historic writers of this century, was a "failure" most of his life. It wasn't until his late 40's that he achieved success as a writer. Toshiko, his wife, reminded him that his years of failure were merely stepping stones toward later success.John Toland spent a life-time interviewing historic figures of the 20th century. Yet as "Captured by History" reveals, the unobtrusive Toland is, himself, a figure of history.

I have read all of Mr. Toland's books at least once. This autobiography maintains his high standards for honesty and accuracy. Although the author is 84 years old his zest for learning and teaching continues to be of the highest standards. This book is more than a story of the author's life; it is a trip through recent history. Mr. Toland did not start out to be an historian. Rather, he wrote fact because he didn't succeed with fiction. We can all thank the fates for this. I highly recommend this book.