The Last Days of Innocence: Library Edition

Rating:
Summary: America stumbled into World WarI like a drunk...
Review: with two left footed boots,(which their soldiers somtimes had). Meirian & Susie Harries do not flinch in painting an unflattering potrait of America's first foray into a major foreign war. (The Spainish-America war doesn't count.) The French are also skewered as defensive minded, arrogant & totally disdainful of the Americans. Considering the source the Brits get off easily. But this is an American story & it is unique. The army started from ground zero. Its make-up was unlike that of any force before it. Italians, Jews, Poles, Germans, Irish & so many others. These varied ethnic groups would not have associated much with each other at home, during peace. But real nation building for America & a sense of self came out of the war; for the price of 50,000 Ameican lives. African-Americans were the the exception. They could not serve with white American soldiers. They were used as cannon fodder to fill the holes in the French army at the front. The French who had little use for the the American army & its tactics were effusive in their praise of the abilities of the black soldiers they served & fought beside. That the war accelerated many changes in America society cannot be disputed & the Harries do a good job discussing them. The United States got nothing tangible from the peace after World WarI. The Allies wanted none of Wilson's idealism for a new world. France & to a lesser extent England wanted revenge against an exhausted Germany & this guaranteed a future war. It is understandable that the United States turned, with some disgust, away from Europe for over 20 years.

Rating:
Summary: America stumbled into World WarI like a drunk...
Review: with two left footed boots,(which their soldiers somtimes had). Meirian & Susie Harries do not flinch in painting an unflattering potrait of America's first foray into a major foreign war. (The Spainish-America war doesn't count.) The French are also skewered as defensive minded, arrogant & totally disdainful of the Americans. Considering the source the Brits get off easily. But this is an American story & it is unique. The army started from ground zero. Its make-up was unlike that of any force before it. Italians, Jews, Poles, Germans, Irish & so many others. These varied ethnic groups would not have associated much with each other at home, during peace. But real nation building for America & a sense of self came out of the war; for the price of 50,000 Ameican lives. African-Americans were the the exception. They could not serve with white American soldiers. They were used as cannon fodder to fill the holes in the French army at the front. The French who had little use for the the American army & its tactics were effusive in their praise of the abilities of the black soldiers they served & fought beside. That the war accelerated many changes in America society cannot be disputed & the Harries do a good job discussing them. The United States got nothing tangible from the peace after World WarI. The Allies wanted none of Wilson's idealism for a new world. France & to a lesser extent England wanted revenge against an exhausted Germany & this guaranteed a future war. It is understandable that the United States turned, with some disgust, away from Europe for over 20 years.