The Illusion Of Victory America In World War I

by Fleming, Thomas

• ISBN13: 9780465024698
• ISBN10: 0465024696
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-05-26
• Publisher: Basic Books

Summary

In this sweeping historical canvas, Thomas Fleming undertakes nothing less than a drastic revision of our experience in World War I. He reveals how the British and French duped Wilson into thinking the war was as good as won, and there would be no need to send an army overseas. He describes a harried president making speech after speech proclaiming America's ideals while supporting espionage and sedition acts that sent critics to federal prisons. And he gives a harrowing account of how the Allies did their utmost to turn the American Expeditionary Force into cannon fodder on the Western Front.Thoroughly researched and dramatically told,The Illusion of Victoryoffers compelling testimony to the power of a president's visionary ideals-as well as a starkly cautionary tale about the dangers of applying them in a war-maddened world.

Author Biography

Thomas Fleming is the author of more than forty books, including The New Dealers' War, Duel, and Liberty! The American Revolution, as well as best-selling novels about America's war experience such as Time and Tide and The Officers' Wives. Fleming is a frequent guest on and contributor to NPR, PBS, A&E, and the History Channel. He lives in New York City and Westbrook, Connecticut.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xi
War Week	1	(42)
Big Lies, Greed, and Other Hoary Animals	43	(42)
Enlisting Volunteers and Other Unlikely Events	85	(32)
Creeling and Other Activities That Make Philip Dru Unhappy	117	(42)
Seeds of the Apocalypse	159	(40)
The Women of No-Man's-Land	199	(38)
Politics Is Adjourned, Ha-Ha-Ha	237	(28)
Fights to the Finish	265	(44)
Peace That Surpasses Understanding	309	(44)
Peace That Surpasses Understanding II	353	(38)
Chilling the Heart of the World	391	(42)
Illusions End	433	(38)
A Covenant with Power	471	(20)
Notes	491	(32)
Index	523