This is a great book that details the origins of the First World War and the path to America's role in the conflict. There is a lot of coverage of the major battles faced by the Allied Powers prior to U.S. involvement (the Somme, Passchendaele), and a great number of pictures of trench battlefields and the personalities of the time from Kaiser Wilhelm II to Ferdinand Foch to Woodrow Wilson. There is mostly focus on U.S. policies - neutrality, the war, and Wilson's Fourteen Points - but there are also fascinating personal stories of combat (and not just the famous stories of U.S. corporal Alvin York and German flying ace Manfred von Richthofen, better known as the Red Baron). This is excellent for young readers who know little about World War I, especially since the war has not been as well remembered as it has in Europe.

The only problem with the book (published in 1996) is that it is somewhat dated; there are at least two references to the then ongoing Bosnian War to relate to the violence in the early 20th century Balkans that proved a major cause of the Great War. This is an otherwise excellent and enjoyable read that I highly recommend. ( )

This book provides a factual overview of the role of the United States in WWI. Through the use of photographs and researched text a well formed view of the War and the the experiences of the American servicemen. I particularly liked the use of photos. With history in particular the use of resources of the time period and specifically photographs can help make a subject more engaging, as it makes the subject seem more real. In particular the photos of soldier after battles brings home just how desperate their existence in the trenches really was. ( )