The Last Days of Innocence: America at War, 1917-1918 [Paperback]

Meirion Harries (Author), Susie Harries (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 24, 1998 | ISBN-10: 0679743766 | ISBN-13: 978-0679743767

In the Spring of 1917, America went to war with an innocent determination to re-make the world. When the smoke lifted in November 1918, the nation emerged with its sense of purpose shattered, its certainties shaken, and with a new and unwelcome self-knowledge. Seventy-five thousand American soldiers were dead, and back home a Pandora's box of suspicions and surveillance had been opened.

The Last Days of Innocence reveals how the fight to preserve freedom abroad led to the erosion of freedom at home. Drawing on American, British, and French archival material, the authors reveal unplanned and uncoordinated field efforts, as well as the unsavory activities of anti-dissent groups, from the Committee for Public Information to the Anti-Yellow Dog League, including a posse of children organized to listen for antiwar talk among families and friends. Here is the story of the fifty-billion-dollar war that gave birth to the Selective Service Act, threatened labor rights, stoked the fires of racial and religious intolerance, and concentrated the nation's wealth into fewer hands than ever before. The Last Days of Innocence tells the untold story of the war that rudely thrust Americans into an uncertain future--a war whose effects remain with us today.

"Well-crafted in every way...a vivid and authoritative history."--Cleveland Plain Dealer

"A neatly plaited narrative...rich in detail. A splendid history."--Washington Times

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com 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. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

The Harrieses (Soldiers of the Sun) combine anecdote, narrative and analysis in this well-written account of the U.S. experience in the Great War. They effectively use French reports to illustrate the operational strengths and weaknesses of an American fighting force that was far more a product of improvisation than its WWII successor. The authors highlight race and gender issues as well, stressing the social and military consequences of anti-black hostility while affirming the war's positive effect on women's emancipation. The Harrieses insist that the war interrupted and distorted processes of domestic reform and national integration in the wake of massive immigration. Power became centralized; the country surrendered to repression and conformity; emotions evoked against the "Hun" were turned inward, against minorities, immigrants and dissenters. This argument lacks nuance, however. The rhetoric of propagandists is conflated with actual behavior, and particular excesses are presented as normative behavior. The Harrieses also seem to contradict themselves by depicting these processes as consequences of the war, after having taken pains to demonstrate that the U.S. was anything but an "innocent" society before 1917. Indeed, the book makes a strong, albeit unintentional, case that homogenization as an alternative to multiculturalism was accelerated rather than generated by American involvement in WWI. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 592 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (November 24, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679743766
• ISBN-13: 978-0679743767
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 1.3 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,197,283 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Greatly compliments the European histories of the Great War, December 5, 2000

By 

Jeffrey Alfier (Tucson, AZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last Days of Innocence: America at War, 1917-1918 (Paperback)

An example of outstanding historiography! Though not quite the American corollary of Paul Fussell's 'The Great War and Modern Memory,' it proves a great companion to histories of the war written by Martin Gilbert and John Keegan. I found the Harries' work comprehensive and thoroughly documented with often forgotten or neglected sources. They give just the right amount of coverage of the often tediously dry economic, industrial, social, and commercial aspects of the war, and thus do not lose the reader's interest. Many will discover for the first time how oppressive the American political, cultural, and intellectual atmospheres became under the wartime government's efforts to rally and control opinion under a guise of patriotism. Finally, the Harries' descriptions of combat are highly detailed, covering both what went wrong during American military actions, as well as what went right. We read, for example, just how Belleau Wood turned out to be one of American military history's most Pyrrhic victories. In all, a truly Odyssean read.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Well Done Historical Account of America's Role in WWI, April 24, 1999

By 

Aussie Reader ""Rick"" (Canberra, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Last Days of Innocence: America at War, 1917-1918 (Hardcover)

If you wanted one book that would provide you with a detailed account of America's role in the Great War this is it. The author's cover every aspect of America's involvement in WW1. This book covers everything from the gradual decline in civil liberties, the increase in Govt. agencies power over the individual, the war industry the training and arming of her armed forces to their final deployment on the European battlefield. Although America didn't get into the fighting until the last few months of the war she paid for the privilage with many young American lives. This is a well researched and a well told story and every American should read the book to fully appreciate what their countymen did in 1917-1918.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comprehensive and enlightening., June 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Last Days of Innocence: America at War, 1917-1918 (Hardcover)

Often overshadowed by the Second World War, the USA's involvement in the Great War is merely considered as setting the stage for that later conflict. However, American involvement in WWI helped turned the tide in favor of the Allies, and also changed America forever. This excellent book manages to detail America's involvement in WWI from both the point of view of specific battles, and from the perspective of the home front. The main strength of "The Last Days of Innocence" resides in how successful the authors are in explaining how WWI changed the USA's government and it's cultural outlook. Such an effort as training, equipping and sending millions of trained soldiers overseas required a massive mobilization which in turn needed complete cooperation from all stratum of society. Those who didn't cooperate were labeled subversive and investigated. Minorities were given the worst assignments. President Woodrow Wilson thought private organizations could be depended upon to police themselves. The country's longheld philosophy of limited government involvement in the daily lives of its citizens disappeared forever and painfully as a price of going to war. The authors depict accurately how confused and tumultuous all of this was for the average American and how these effects are still being felt today. WWI was truly a turning point for the United States and this book captures its impact and signficance. Highly recommended.