The Last Days of Innocence: America at War, 1917-1918
InThe Last Days of InnocenceMeirion and Susie Harries describe  World War I as the portal through which the United States stepped into the 20th century.   As a relatively naive and still young nation, the United States entered the European war  to defend ideals of democracy and self-determination. It emerged from the conflict not as  a clear victor but as a nation transformed: militarized, nationalistic, rife with a hatred of  "foreigners," and saddled by class and racial divisions.  The Harries illustrate  how mobilization for "total war" altered America, placing great emphasis on  the growth of the federal government's role in American society and the often maligned  sacrifices made by Americans. Five million men were conscripted and $33 billion dollars  spent for a war that did little to promote American ideals or interests. The authors  examined archival material from American, British, and French sources, and this lends  complexity and originality to their work.The Last Days of Innocenceis a  challenging, at times controversial, revisionist account of America's involvement in the  Great War and its lasting effects on American government and society.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.