Synopses & Reviews
The First World War was waged through the participation not just of soldiers but of men, women, and children on the home front. Mass-produced, full-color, large-format war posters were both a sign and an instrument of this historic shift in warfare. War posters celebrated, in both their form and content, the modernity of the conflict. They also reached an enormous international audience through their prominent display and continual reproduction in pamphlets and magazines in every combatant nation, uniting diverse populations as viewers of the same image and bringing them closer, in an imaginary and powerful way, to the war.and#160;Most war posters were aimed particularly at civilian populations. Posters nationalized, mobilized, and modernized those populations, thereby influencing how they viewed themselves and their activities. The home-front lifeand#8212;factory work, agricultural work, domestic work, the consumption and conservation of goods, as well as various forms of leisureand#8212;became, through the viewing of posters, emblematic of national identity and of each citizenand#8217;s place within the collective effort to win the war.and#160;Essays by Jay Winter, Jeffrey T. Schnapp, Jennifer D. Keene, and others reveal the centrality of visual media, particularly the poster, within the specific national contexts of Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and the United States during World War I.and#160;Ultimately, posters were not merely representations of popular understanding of the war, but instruments influencing the reach, meaning, and memory of the war in subtle and pervasive ways.
Review
and#8220;[This is] an extremely important contribution . . . bringing together sources from both the radical and mainstream aspects of antiwar activism.and#8221;and#8212;Cecelia Lynch, professor of political science at the University of California, Irvine, and author of Beyond Appeasement: Interpreting Interwar Peace Movements in World Politics
Review
and#8220;Experts in the field, Scott Bennett and Charles Howlett provide a valuable new collection of original source documents that provide fresh and insightful understanding of peace activism, dissent and the issue of civil liberties in America in World War I.and#8221;and#8212;John Whiteclay Chambers II, author of
To Raise an Army: The Draft Comes to Modern Americaand#160;
Review
and#8220;Accessible to scholars and the general public alike, this wonderful volume brings to life those men and women who envisioned a better world and fought and#8216;to end all wars.and#8217;and#8221;and#8212;Wendy E. Chmielewski, George R. Cooley Curator, Swarthmore College Peace Collection
Review
andquot;Every generation needs to be reminded of and taught the heavy price exacted by war.andquot;andmdash;Murray Polner, History News Network
Review
and#8220;The real value in Keeneand#8217;s work is her ability to look beyond the trenches of the Western Front, which have long dominated any discussion of the World War, and illuminate the struggles of a people and a nation engaging in their first truly international and modern war. . . . Keeneand#8217;s study works as an overview, drawing together numerous aspects of the daily experiences of American soldiers into a unified whole. . . . A welcome addition to the library of the casual reader and the serious scholar alike.and#8221;and#8212;Brian Neumann, Journal of Military History
Review
"Dr. Keene presents a masterfully crafted and detailed primer on American participation in the Great War, focusing on the varied experiences of the men and women who participated. The book is replete with useful facts and figures."and#8212;Leonard G. Shurtleff, Camaraderie
Review
"Jennifer D. Keene, author of numerous works on World War I, provides a concise but exceptionally complete treatment of American soldiers in that war, not only in France but in North Russia and Siberia. . . . Keene has exhaustively mined the scholarship of the wartime experience."and#8212;G. Alan Knight, Journal of America's Military Past
Review
"Keene has a good grasp of the newest scholarship on the readiness and ability of the U.S. Army and its leaders, writes well, and has a good ear for what might be termed "informative trivia", the little factoid or anecdote that conveys a useful message."and#8212;NYMAS Review
Review
"This is a fine addition to the growing body of literature on this somewhat ephemeral form of graphic communication."and#8212;S. Skaggs, CHOICE
Review
"Readers' comprehension of World War I posters will be enriched well beyond their most thorough visual observations."and#8212;Barbara Steinson, Annals of Iowa
Review
"Historians of war, politics, gender, culture, art, and literature will all benefit from the insights presented here."and#8212;David Welky, Journal of American History
Review
"Picture This is a powerful edited collection in which the whole adds up to a great deal more than the sum of its parts."and#8212;Karen Petrone, Journal of Military History
Synopsis
World War I was a watershed in modern world history. On the battlefield, millions were slaughtered by chemical warfare, machine guns, and trench warfareand#8212;and this senseless bloodletting remains the most enduring legacy of the Great War. Critical to understanding the warand#8217;s significance is the often-overlooked emergence of a and#8220;modernand#8221; dynamic grassroots peace movement that both opposed war and sought to abolish its social causes.
and#160;Edited by Scott H. Bennett and Charles F. Howlett, Antiwar Dissent and Peace Activism in World War I America presents primary documents, most anthologized for the first time, illustrating opposition and resistance to the war and the governmentand#8217;s efforts to promote the war and restrict dissent. This fresh collection highlights the broad range of antiwar sentiment: religious and secular, liberal and radical, pacifist and nonpacifist, including conscientious objection. It also addresses key issues raised by the antiwar movementand#8212;particularly dissent in wartime, civil liberties, the meaning of patriotism, and citizen peace activismand#8212;that remain vital to understanding American democracy.
and#160;
Synopsis
World War I explores the daily lives of the men and women who served the United States in the Great War. Relying extensively on letters, diaries, and reminiscences of those Americans who fought or served in World War I, Jennifer D. Keene reports on the training camp experience at home; the journey overseas; and the unique difficulties African Americans, Native Americans, women, and immigrants encountered in the predominately white and native-born army. She also describes in vivid detail the perspective of naval and air service personnel and, for those on the ground in France, the horrors of static trench warfare and active engagement in combat. Chapters describe coping with and treating disease and wounds; the devastating frequency of death; and for those who came home, the difficult reentry into civilian life, as well as the causes, strategic decisions, and political outcome of the war. This volume includes a timeline, illustrations, and an extensive bibliography of recommended sources.
About the Author
Jennifer D. Keene is a professor of history and the chair of the Department of History at Chapman University. She is the author of two other books on American involvement in World War I: Doughboys, the Great War, and the Remaking of America and The United States and the First World War. She also served as an associate editor for the Encyclopedia of War and American Society, which won the Society of Military Historyand#8217;s prize for best military history reference book.