With his peppery but precise delivery, the "Dean of Commentators," Hans von Kaltenborn, was a familiar feature of the American airwaves for over 30 years. Kaltenborn started his career as a newspaperman, but then moved to radio at the very moment the new medium was beginning to establish itself as a disseminator of news. In the 1920s, when broadcast news was rare and usually consisted of a narrative accounting of current events, Kaltenborn maintained the unorthodox view that newscasters should not only report facts and information, they should provide analysis and insight into the situation "behind the headlines." Often regarded as the first regular radio news commentator, Hans's vast knowledge of foreign affairs and international politics amply equipped him for covering crises in Europe and the Far East in the 1930s. His vivid reporting of the Spanish Civil War and the Czech Crisis...