Monday, August 27, 2018

Leuchtenburg, The Perils of Prosperity, 1914–1932, 2e (1993)

William E. Leuchtenburg.
The Perils of Prosperity, 1914–1932, Second Edition.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993.

Book Information: Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.

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I think The Perils of Prosperity, 1914–1932 is too short for the very eventful and significant period it covers; but it does have a very thorough bibliographical essay.

Leuchtenburg's discussion of Republican policy during 1914–1932 is mostly dismissive assertions rather than analysis. His analysis of presidential election results in the 1920s (all huge Republican victories) consists more of perverse reasons why people might vote against Democrats and less of the positive reasons of votes for Republicans. The book conveys the impression that the Republican administrations of the 1920s (1921–1933) were a strange interregnum between the supposedly more enlightened reigns of Wilson and FDR. I think we can more insightfully interpret the 1920s as the continuation and termination of the long Republican dominated period from 1860 to FDR, and view Wilson's presidency as an aberration caused by Roosevelt splitting the Republican vote in 1912. (Leuchtenburg implicitly believes, and at one point explicitly asserts, that the Democratic Party is somehow the natural and rightful ruling party of the U.S.)

David M. Kennedy's Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945 (1999) provides a superior description and analysis of the Hoover administration and causes of the Great Depression.

Leuchtenburg seems to have done a better job with the Hoover administration in his later book:
  • William E. Leuchtenburg. Herbert Hoover. New York: Times Books / Henry Holt and Company / Macmillan Publishers, 2009.
    [Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]
as this C-SPAN interview indicates:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friday, August 24, 2018

Farwell, Over There: The United States in the Great War, 1917-1918 (1999)

Byron Farwell.
Over There: The United States in the Great War, 1917-1918.
New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1999.

Book Information: Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.

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Video:
The following talks are very good supplements to Farwell's book:~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Farwell's Over There is an introductory survey of the USA's participation in the First World War. It is mostly focused on U.S. soldiers' experiences in Europe (in contrast, for example, to Kennedy's Over Here and Neiberg's The Path to War which focus exclusively on U.S. domestic matters).

I found Farwell's book an awkward combination of too much and too little: too many minor details and not enough continuous narrative; awkward jumps from larger events to individual soldier's heroic actions; too many large topics discussed briefly. It is probably not quite what people seek in a military history; battles are described, but briefly, and the maps are copied from 1919 and 1938 publications, not new. The book has some military history, some political history, some social history, some photos, some maps; it says something about many things that the U.S. Army did during 1917-1919, all in less than 300 pages of main text.

An often recommended book (that I haven't seen yet):
  • Edward M. Coffman. The War to End All Wars: The American Military Experience in World War I. New York: Oxford University Press, 1968. Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky, 1998.
    [Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.]
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Tuesday, August 21, 2018

Stevenson, 1917: War, Peace, and Revolution (2017)

David Stevenson.
1917: War, Peace, and Revolution.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.

Book Information: Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.

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Video: David Stevenson~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wikipedia Articles:
Part I: Atlantic Prologue

Chapter 1: Unleashing the U-BoatsChapter 2: Enter AmericaChapter 3: Britain Adopts Convoys
Part II: Continental Impasse

Chapter 4: Tsar Nicholas AbdicatesChapter 5: France AttacksChapter 6: The Kerensky OffensiveChapter 7: The Road to PasschendaeleChapter 8: Collapse at CaporettoChapter 9: Peace Moves and Their Rejection
Part III: Global Repercussions

Chapter 10: The Spread of Intervention: Greece, Brazil, Siam, ChinaChapter 11: Responsible Government for IndiaChapter 12: A Jewish National Home
Part IV: Conclusion

Towards 1918: Lenin's Revolution, the Ludendorff Offensives, and Wilson's Fourteen Points~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stevenson's book 1917 is an excellent survey of major events and decision-making during the year 1917. The principal feature of the book is the author's detailed description and analysis of debates among leaders, providing insight into the perennial question "What were they thinking?" for a year that featured many strategic failures.

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Sunday, August 05, 2018

Emmerson, 1913: In Search of the World Before the Great War (2013)

Charles Emmerson.
1913: In Search of the World Before the Great War.
New York: PublicAffairs (Perseus Books Group / Hachette Book Group), 2013.

First published as: 1913: The World Before the Great War. London: The Bodley Head, 2013.

Book Information: Publisher; Google Books; Amazon.com.

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Video: Charles Emmerson~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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