Goodbye to all that, Somme mud, To the Last Ridge, Storm of Steel

[Waddell]

I'm interested in learning more of the American involvement in the Great War and although I've seen quite a few books on the campaigns and personalities I haven't seen a lot of personal accounts.

Could some of our US based forum members recommend a few?

Are there any classics in the vein of Goodbye to All That, Storm of Steel, etc?

Thanks,

Scott.

[barkalotloudly]

there are a lot of good personal accounts many privately printed, i do have several i will post some titles

best regards john

[Waddell]

Thanks John. I look forward to seeing that list.

I have read that quite a few were printed in the 1920's, but after that there wasn't much interest in the first world war in the states. I'm not sure how true that is.

I have seen a memoir called "Toward the Flame" by Hervey Allen that is readily available. It seems to have good reviews. Are you familiar with this one?

Scott.

[Sapper Will]

Allen's Toward the Flame is probably the classic Yank memoir. Some more recent titles that have become minor classics are Albert Ettinger's A Doughboy with the Fighting 69th, Suddenly We Didn't Want to Die by Elton Mackin and His Time in Hell by Warren Jackson. James B. Hallas' Doughboy War is a terrific source for first-person accounts. Somewhat less useful, but worth a look, is Henry Berry's Make the Kaiser Dance, which is a collection of 1970s interviews with elderly vets.

If you want to get a good idea of the character of the AEF and the terrible ordeal they went through, I think Hallas is your best bet, although the book may be hard to find.

[Waddell]

Thanks Will,

I'll keep an eye out for the Hallas book.

I actually found an interesting article on doughboy literature that mentions a few of the books that you mentioned, so I've more of an idea of what is available now.

http://www.meuse-argonne.com/Randys%20Webp...hboy_biblio.htm

Interesting website as well.

Regards,

Scott