By 1915, the Western Front was a 450-mile line of trenches, barbed wire and concrete bunkers, stretching across Europe. Attempts to break the stalemate were murderous and futile. Censorship of the press was extreme--no one wanted the carnage reported. Remakably, the Allied command gave two intrepid American women, Edith Wharton and Mary Roberts Rinehart, permission to visit the front and report on what they saw. Their travels are reconstructed from their own published accounts, Rinehart's unpublished day-by-day notes, and the writings of other journalists who toured the front in 1915. The present authors' explorations of the places Wharton and Rinehart visited serves as a travel guide to the Western Front.
Beginning with the novelist Edith Wharton, who toured the front in her Mercedes in 1915, this book describes the wartime experiences of American idealists (and a few rogues) on the Western Front and concludes with the doughboys' experiences under General Pershing. Americans were "over there" from the war's beginning in August 1914, and because America was neutral until April 1917, they saw the war from both the French and German lines. Since most of the Americans who served, regardless of which side they were on, were in Champagne and Lorraine, this sector is the focus. Excerpts from memoirs are supplemented by descriptions of personalities, places, battles and even equipment and weapons, thus placing these generally forgotten American adventurers into the context of their times. A special set of maps based upon German Army battle maps was drawn and rare photographs supplement the text.
Belgium in the First World War--the first country invaded, the longest occupied, and when the war finally ended, the first forgotten. In 1914, Belgium was home to a large American colony which included representatives of American companies, artists, writers and diplomats with the American Legation. After the invasion, American journalists and adventurers flocked there to follow the action; military restrictions on travel were less stringent than in England or France. As the most industrialized country in Europe, Belgium depended upon trade and food imports to support its economy. The war isolated Belgium and wholesale starvation was imminent by the fall of 1914. Herbert Hoover and his Commission for Relief in Belgium raised funds to purchase and import food to sustain Belgium and, eventually, Occupied France as well. Idealistic American volunteers (including some Rhodes scholars) supervised food distribution in the occupation zone. Along the Western Front in Belgium, hundreds of Americans served (illegally) in the British and Canadian armies. This book tells the story of the German invasion, occupation and retreat from the perspective of Americans who were there.
Beginning with the novelist Edith Wharton, who toured the front in her Mercedes in 1915, this book describes the wartime experiences of American idealists (and a few rogues) on the Western Front and concludes with the doughboys' experiences under General Pershing. Americans were "over there" from the war's beginning in August 1914, and because America was neutral until April 1917, they saw the war from both the French and German lines. Since most of the Americans who served, regardless of which side they were on, were in Champagne and Lorraine, this sector is the focus. Excerpts from memoirs are supplemented by descriptions of personalities, places, battles and even equipment and weapons, thus placing these generally forgotten American adventurers into the context of their times. A special set of maps based upon German Army battle maps was drawn and rare photographs supplement the text.
By 1915, the Western Front was a 450-mile line of trenches, barbed wire and concrete bunkers, stretching across Europe. Attempts to break the stalemate were murderous and futile. Censorship of the press was extreme--no one wanted the carnage reported. Remakably, the Allied command gave two intrepid American women, Edith Wharton and Mary Roberts Rinehart, permission to visit the front and report on what they saw. Their travels are reconstructed from their own published accounts, Rinehart's unpublished day-by-day notes, and the writings of other journalists who toured the front in 1915. The present authors' explorations of the places Wharton and Rinehart visited serves as a travel guide to the Western Front.
In 1945, with the defeat of Nazi Germany, Stalin expanded Poland to include German territories along the Baltic Sea. Was Poland's claim legitimate? Were these territories originally Slavic or Germanic? The Teutonic Legacy, a lost Vatican document from 1226, might give historical legitimacy to one side or the other. Now, in 1988, the Polish People's Republic will soon become the Republic of Poland. Should its map be redrawn? Both Poles and Germans want the Legacy but for different reasons. Three Americans teaching in Poland discover the Legacy and soon everyone is after them. The Americans want to sell the artifact to the highest bidder. But the interested parties rather pay in bullets than dollars. Modern Teutonic Knights and the Polish ZOMO (socialist gestapo) pursue the trio through monastic crypts, castles, a Nazi fortress, churches and a Jewish cemetery. The chase is set in the crumbling socialist economy of Poland in 1988 where crime, bribery and the black-market were the glue holding the place together. Finally, the Americans make it to East Berlin, only to be captured by the East German Stasi - where, hopefully, bribery would also work.
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