S. J. Duncan-Clark (1875–1938)

As history, this book leaves something to be desired. The opening chapter - "The Red Trail of Prussia" - seeks to blame World War One solely on Prussian ambition. The German people were the "docile tools of the Prussian dynasty", a dynasty that only knew force to realize its ambitions. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand was not, according to this book, the work of the Serbian Black Hand but a Prussian plot. Likewise, the resolve of the Russian court was weakened, allegedly, by pro-German sympathies. (And in the failed prophecy department, we are assured that Russian will soon take its place among the democratic nations of the world.)

Seemingly written for the new American Legion and published shortly after the final peace treaty was signed on June 28, 1919, this book emphasizes America's role in the war. Thus, we get almost nothing on the sub-Saharan Africa theatre of the war or its casualties. The book emphasizes heavily the brief time America fought in the war. Only 157 out of 384 pages cover the war before America entered it - though Canadian involvement is also emphasized. The organization is puzzling. "The Aftermath of the Armistice" and "The Price of Victory" chapters are before the "How the Central Powers Fell" chapter. (I suspect the type was set before a last minute expansion of the book.) Sometimes, the prose repeats itself.

So, if you're looking for a good, one-volume introduction to the history of WWI, this isn't it. I suggest you try John Keegan's An Illustrated History of the First World War or, if you really want to go in depth, Hew Strachan's first volume in the Oxford history of the war, The First World War: Volume I: To Arms (First World War) or the excellent dvd series The First World War - The Complete Series scripted by Strachan.

On the other hand, this book has some peculiar virtues. It has lots of interesting and rare pictures of everything from dogs carrying cigarette cartons in the trenches to Italian bike troops - though those photos and paintings are sometimes tenuously connected to the surrounding text. Communist propaganda has all but taken it out of history, but we are reminded that a democratic Russian government did exist between the Czar and Lenine (as he's called here). The prose shows some other contemporary usages and names that have since become obsolete. There is a precise tally of the war's cost in lives, money, and equipment - though I don't know what the scholarship of 90 years has done to those figures. Several key American military leaders wrote chapters: Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels about the United States Marines in the war, General John J. Pershing about the American Expeditionary Force, and Admiral William S. Sims on the war's naval battles. And, after long hearing just how harsh the Versailles Treaty was, it was interesting to actually read it - and note the references to things like the Koran, a sultan's skull, Jan Van Eyck paintings, and astronomical instruments. This book shows what many American's must have felt about the war shortly after it ended. Unfortunately, that includes the whiff of fascism that surrounded the Wilson Administration and the founding of the American Legion. (For more documentation on that, see Jonah Goldberg's Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, From Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning.)… (meer)

Copyright 1919, before they knew about WWII. Pity, it seems.

Lavishly illustrated with black and white photos and the occasional color plate, mostly portraits of great men: General Pershing, Marshall Foch, Woodrow Wilson. Centerfold: Painting of aerial battle, "Looping to Escape the Murderous Fire from the Enemy Planes."

Just the thing to be looking at on a relaxing Memorial Day weekend.

I just want to share the Dedication, in case any Gentle Readers out there care:

To Righteousness, the Foundation of Peace
To Freedom, the Spirit of Peace
To Democracy, the Dwelling of Peace

and to all Brave Men of whatever Clime or Creed, Who for these things fought and suffered even unto death.

(I shall thank also all the Brave Women who were there, too).… (meer)