I wanted to to like this book, the war stories are right up my alley, but I just found the writing a struggle and couldn't get through the book. The writing just dragged, but if you can get through that,
the people themselves are interesting.

Audiobook note : ok narrator, a bit droll (maybe that's what made the book drag) ( )

"They had gone into the army expecting Jews to be cowards, Italians to be thieves, Germans to be spies, Poles to be lazy, Irish to be disloyal - but even in the thick of combat they stopped to acknowledge how wrong they had been." (pg 245) But this isn't just a war story - it's a story of immigrants who came to America seeking a better life. Some found it, while others only traded locations. While focusing mostly on 12 individuals, this book tells the stories and experiences of some who emigrated from Europe only to return to fight in the Great War.

This is almost two stories in one. The first tells in sepia-toned language the immigrant story of their lives in Italy, Poland, Russia, Ireland, Norway; the poverty, hardship, and persecution many endured (I was reminded of the excellent memoir The Invisible Wall). But opportunity lay in America and so they braved the crowded ships, often resettling in immigrant neighborhoods surrounded by their own kind. But the war changed all that, and the second story takes a dramatic shift to tell of their service in the mud and trenches of Verdun and the Argonne. Where individual details and stories are missing Laskin fills in from the experiences of contemporaries and paints a grim picture of the life of the WWI soldier. They returned no longer hyphenated Americans, but as Americans with a foreign heritage.

David Laskin writes powerfully at times, although occasionally the whole feels a little uneven. But it's a well-researched and important book that reminds us that America is a better nation for the service and sacrifice of those who answered when called. It also touches on issues of relevance today, and while the book offers some very salient food for thought, Mr. Laskin refrains from editorializing in these pages and keeps the focus on the history, letting it speak for itself. I enjoyed this book and it made me want to thank a veteran for their service. ( )

"They had gone into the army expecting Jews to be cowards, Italians to be thieves, Germans to be spies, Poles to be lazy, Irish to be disloyal - but even in the thick of combat they stopped to acknowledge how wrong they had been." (pg 245) But this isn't just a war story - it's a story of immigrants who came to America seeking a better life. Some found it, while others only traded locations. While focusing mostly on 12 individuals, this book tells the stories and experiences of some who emigrated from Europe only to return to fight in the Great War.

This is almost two stories in one. The first tells in sepia-toned language the immigrant story of their lives in Italy, Poland, Russia, Ireland, Norway; the poverty, hardship, and persecution many endured (I was reminded of the excellent memoir The Invisible Wall). But opportunity lay in America and so they braved the crowded ships, often resettling in immigrant neighborhoods surrounded by their own kind. But the war changed all that, and the second story takes a dramatic shift to tell of their service in the mud and trenches of Verdun and the Argonne. Where individual details and stories are missing Laskin fills in from the experiences of contemporaries and paints a grim picture of the life of the WWI soldier. They returned no longer hyphenated Americans, but as Americans with a foreign heritage.

David Laskin writes powerfully at times, although occasionally the whole feels a little uneven. But it's a well-researched and important book that reminds us that America is a better nation for the service and sacrifice of those who answered when called. It also touches on issues of relevance today, and while the book offers some very salient food for thought, Mr. Laskin refrains from editorializing in these pages and keeps the focus on the history, letting it speak for itself. I enjoyed this book and it made me want to thank a veteran for their service. ( )

"They had gone into the army expecting Jews to be cowards, Italians to be thieves, Germans to be spies, Poles to be lazy, Irish to be disloyal - but even in the thick of combat they stopped to acknowledge how wrong they had been." (pg 245) But this isn't just a war story - it's a story of immigrants who came to America seeking a better life. Some found it, while others only traded locations. While focusing mostly on 12 individuals, this book tells the stories and experiences of some who emigrated from Europe only to return to fight in the Great War.

This is almost two stories in one. The first tells in sepia-toned language the immigrant story of their lives in Italy, Poland, Russia, Ireland, Norway; the poverty, hardship, and persecution many endured (I was reminded of the excellent memoir The Invisible Wall). But opportunity lay in America and so they braved the crowded ships, often resettling in immigrant neighborhoods surrounded by their own kind. But the war changed all that, and the second story takes a dramatic shift to tell of their service in the mud and trenches of Verdun and the Argonne. Where individual details and stories are missing Laskin fills in from the experiences of contemporaries and paints a grim picture of the life of the WWI soldier. They returned no longer hyphenated Americans, but as Americans with a foreign heritage.

David Laskin writes powerfully at times, although occasionally the whole feels a little uneven. But it's a well-researched and important book that reminds us that America is a better nation for the service and sacrifice of those who answered when called. It also touches on issues of relevance today, and while the book offers some very salient food for thought, Mr. Laskin refrains from editorializing in these pages and keeps the focus on the history, letting it speak for itself. I enjoyed this book and it made me want to thank a veteran for their service. ( )

This book, by the guy who wrote The Children's Blizzard (which I read 9 Aug 2005), is a carefuly researched account of 12 men who were immigrants to the USA or sons of immigrants, and their time in the old country, how they came to come to this country, and their experiences in the Great War. I found the account of their youth, their experiences in arriving in the US, and what they did after the war full of interest. The account of the experiences on the battlefields of Europe did tend to pall for me, since some of it was deduced rather than actual--to be expected since this book was written long after all had died, though the author did actually talk to at least one of the men. The book causes one to shudder over the senselessness of way the war was carried on, though the men who did the fighting could not be blamed for that in any way. So while not unfailingly intriguing for me, on balance and after I had finished the book, I found I was glad I read it and it carries vivid memories for me--including a poignant account of Hutterites who refused to fight and underwent a tortured time till the war was over. ( )