The Yanks Are Coming, Albert Marrin

I found this book in the history section of the library. Just the photos intrigued me, so I brought it home. I have to say I really enjoyed it as an overview of the U.S. participation in World War I. I’ve been looking for a good overview for awhile now, have been recommended several, but have resisted even reading them. As good as the reviewers claim the text is, it always seems to consist of a recitation of political motivations, dates, names, locations, etc. which is, in the end, expected in trying to boil down four years of bloody conflict to a manageable length. But even when the texts try to delve into emotional issues, such as shell shock, the wounded, the filthy conditions of the trenches, they all seem particularly distant and bloodless.

Perhaps this was why this book was shelved with the history books and not in the juvenile section, as it was written as a young adult overview of "the Great War" (the author has apparently done six young adult books about the subject). For something written for a lower age level, I find it a remarkable record of the realities of war. In one chapter, Marrin follows the typical day of a flying squadron and uses diary excerpts from WWI aviators; he addresses the real danger of the planes catching fire and the pilots being "roasted alive" in their aircraft. In another chapter, he describes the construction of the trenches, complete with an understandable diagram, and the daily discomforts of living in them. The paragraphs citing the depredations of the rats is particularly vivid. Battles and wounds, the mud of the roads and the devastation of the landscape are all described unflinchingly.

Along the way Marrin touches on some of the famous "names" of the war: Eddie Rickenbacker (who was prone to airsickness!); John J. Pershing, who had lost his wife and three daughters in a house fire before going overseas and who still mourned their loss during the war; air ace Raoul Lufbery, who met one of the firey deaths described above; Alvin York, whose whole story I'd never known until reading this book (never seen the movie Sergeant York and the history books that I've read that have mentioned him just said simply that he was decorated for heroism saving his fellow soldiers from the enemy without saying specifically what his actions were). Other men who become famous in World War II are seen here earlier in their careers: MacArthur, Patton, Eisenhower, even Hitler.

In short, if you want a detailed history of American participation in WWI, this isn't the book--but if you want a vivid portrait of "how it was" for the average Joe fighting overseas, I recommend this volume highly.

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. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 11:05:00 PM

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