Long Way Home An American Journey from Ellis Island to the Great War

From the author of The Children's Blizzardcomes an epic story of the sacrifice and service of an immigrant generation.

When the United States entered World War I in 1917, one-third of the nation's population had been born overseas or had a parent who was an immigrant. At the peak of U.S. involvement in the war, nearly one in five American soldiers was foreign-born. Many of these immigrant soldiers—most of whom had been drafted—knew little of America outside of tight-knit ghettos and backbreaking labor. Yet World War I would change their lives and ultimately reshape the nation itself. Italians, Jews, Poles, Norwegians, Slovaks, Russians, and Irishmen entered the army as aliens and returned as Americans, often as heroes.

In The Long Way Home, award-winning writer David Laskin traces the lives of a dozen men, eleven of whom left their childhood homes in Europe, journeyed through Ellis Island, and started over in a strange land. After detailing the daily realities of immigrant life in the factories, farms, mines, and cities of a rapidly growing nation, Laskin tells the heartbreaking stories of how these men—both conscripts and volunteers—joined the army, were swept into the ordeal of boot camp, and endured the month of hell that ended the war at the Argonne, where they truly became Americans. Those who survived were profoundly altered—and their experiences would shape the lives of their families as well.

Epic, inspiring, and masterfully written, The Long Way Homeis the unforgettable true story of the Great War, the world it remade, and the men who fought for a country not of their birth, but which held the hope and opportunity of a better way of life.

When America declared war on Germany in 1917, a third of its population had either been born overseas or was the child of someone who was, and one out of every five draftees was from another country. World War I would fundamentally reshape the nation as Italians, Jews, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Russians and Irishmen entered the army as immigrants and returned not only as Americans, but as heroes.

In The Long Way Home, David Laskin, author of The Children's Blizzard, follows a dozen men as they travel from Europe to the United States as homeless aliens and then back to Europe as American soldiers. The Long Way Home tells of the heartbreak and hell endured by these new Americans, and how their experiences not only altered their own lives, but also the nation they had adopted as their own.

David Laskin is the author of The Children's Blizzard, which won the 2006 Midwest Booksellers' Choice Award for Nonfiction and the Washington State Book Award. His writing has also appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and Smithsonian. He lives in Seattle, WA.

"The Long Way Home is a riveting remembrance of the Great War by a master writer." -- Douglas Brinkley, author of The Wilderness Warrior

Though they had known little of America outside of tight-knit ghettos and backbreaking labor, these foreign-born conscripts were rapidly transformed into soldiers, American soldiers, in the ordeal of war. Two of the men in this book won the Medal of Honor. Three died in combat. Those who survived were profoundly altered-and their heroic service reshaped their families and ultimately the nation itself.

Epic, inspiring, and masterfully written, this book is an unforgettable true story of the Great War, the world it remade, and the humble, loyal men who became Americans by fighting for America.

“Moving, revealing, and lovingly researched, this book is a must read, and a great read, for any of us whose forebears came from overseas-meaning just about all of us.” — Erik Larson

The author of the award-winning The Childrens Blizzard, David Laskin, returns with a remarkable true story of the immigrants who risked their lives fighting for America during the Great War.