Personal Perspectives - World War I (Electronic book text)

This captivating collection of first-hand accounts brings to life the "War to End All Wars." It began with an act of terror involving two European powers. Over the next four years it spread across the globe and end up claiming the lives of 10 million people. From soldiers in the trenches to women factory workers, the world's first "total war" brought shared experiences and unique challenges to each of the groups it affected. "Personal Perspectives: World War I" offers a unique and unprecedented view of the Great War through the experiences of its participants - people of all ranks and races. Focusing on 12 major groups, essays by top international scholars put readers directly into the lives of victims of gas attacks, women factory workers, African American soldiers, pacifists, diplomats, and other groups both on the battlefield and at the home front. Of interest to both students and nonexperts, the work tells the stories of soldiers who suffered in the trenches, U-boat and anti-U-boat personnel, German Americans in the United States, and women activists like Florence Jaffrey Harriman.; Through the perspectives of commanders, captives, civilians, and social workers, readers will learn why British soldiers in the Netherlands were called "malden robbers," how the YMCA set up huts to care for prisoners in POW camps, and how efforts to entertain U.S. troops led to the the largest theatrical enterprise in history.