Personal perspectives

Personal Perspectives: World War I offers a unique and unprecedented view of the Great War through the experiences of its participants--people of all ranks and races. Focusing on 12 major groups, essays by top international scholars put readers directly into the lives of victims of gas attacks, women factory workers, African American soldiers, pacifists, medical personnel, and other groups both on the battlefield and home front. Of interest to both students and nonexperts, the work tells the stories of soldiers who suffered in the trenches, U-boat and anti-U-boat personnel, German Americans in the United States, and women activists like Florence Jaffrey Harriman. Through the perspectives of commanders, captives, civilians, and social workers, readers will learn why British soldiers in the Netherlands were called "maiden robbers," how the YMCA set up huts to care for prisoners in POW camps, and how efforts to entertain U.S. troops led to the the largest theatrical enterprise in history.

The African-American experience in World War I -- "Over the dirty waters" : the experience of British Indians in World War I -- The war on the periphery : the experience of soldiers fighting in European colonies, 1914-1918 -- "In a stupid cap and grey jacket" : soldiers' experiences of World War I in the neutral Netherlands -- "A miserable and impoverished existence in lousy scratch holes" : the experience of trench warfare during World War I -- Victims of a greenish cloud : the experience of a gas attack during World War I -- "Like climbing into the witch's oven" : the experience of tank combat in World War I -- Life in a tin can : the experience of submarine personnel during World War I -- "It's only the ones that might live who count" : Allied medical personnel during World War I -- "Service for soldiers" : the experience of American social welfare agencies in World War I -- Prisoners of war in the World War I : British and allied civilian internees at Ruhleben Camp, Germany -- Mothers, wives, workers, and more : the experience of American women on the home front during World War I -- Struggling not to fight : the experience of radicals and pacifists during World War I.