The Last Days of Innocence: America at War, 1917-1918 - Hardcover

Harries, Meirion

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0679418636 ISBN 13: 9780679418634

Publisher: Random House, 1997

Synopsis

n just 17 months, the U.S. federal government grew from one cog in the machinery of American life into a colossus. The Great War proved to be the gateway through which our grandparents passed from the relative innocence of the 19th century into our own troubled, uncertain era. The Last Days of Innocence combines archival material to present a fresh and modern evaluation of America's performance. Photos.

About this title

Review:

In The Last Days of Innocence Meirion and Susie Harries describe World War I as the portal through which the United States stepped into the 20th century. As a relatively naive and still young nation, the United States entered the European war to defend ideals of democracy and self-determination. It emerged from the conflict not as a clear victor but as a nation transformed: militarized, nationalistic, rife with a hatred of "foreigners," and saddled by class and racial divisions. The Harries illustrate how mobilization for "total war" altered America, placing great emphasis on the growth of the federal government's role in American society and the often maligned sacrifices made by Americans. Five million men were conscripted and $33 billion dollars spent for a war that did little to promote American ideals or interests. The authors examined archival material from American, British, and French sources, and this lends complexity and originality to their work. The Last Days of Innocence is a challenging, at times controversial, revisionist account of America's involvement in the Great War and its lasting effects on American government and society.

About the Author:

Susie Harries is currently the part-time administrator of the RSA/Comino Foundation's Forum on Ethics in the Workplace.

About this edition

• Publisher: Random House
• Publication date: 1997
• ISBN 10: 0679418636
• ISBN 13: 9780679418634
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 573