Description
Book SynopsisDuring America's participation in World War I, 1917-1918, only a single commander of a division, William M. Wright, is known to have kept a diary. In it, General Wright relates his two-month experience at St. Mihiel and especially the Meuse-Argonne, the largest and most costly battle in American history.
Trade ReviewAs our only document of its kind, Wright's diary shows in detail how a division headquarters operated and what its commander did day by day, how he kept informed about the qualities of his principal subordinates, assessed their performances, and guided and sometimes dismissed them. While Wright was an assertive individual, the diary is informative also in showing how limited were the decision-making options of even such a character in the highly structured American Expeditionary Forces. . . . The diary also candidly reflects the weaknesses of the young American Army of 1918."" - Russell Weigley