A compelling account of the personal experiences of groups who were affected by World War II, both on and off the battlefields. Personal Perspectives: World War II brings to life the experiences of specific segments of soldiers and civilians as they were affected by the conflict, capturing special characteristics of each group and the unique ways they experienced the war. Twelve essays written by top international scholars portray what it was really like to experience the war for groups ranging from marines, naval aviators, and liberators of concentration camps to prisoners of war, refugees, and women in factories. Of interest to both students and nonexperts, the book tells the stories of Japanese Americans forced into internment camps and African Americans who experienced intense discrimination, the call to activism, and opportunity in the armed forces. It offers the perspectives of Navajo "code talkers," diplomats like U.S. ambassador to Poland Anthony J. Biddle, who fled his post to avoid death, and scientists who worked on the Manhattan project, thereby introducing the most destructive form of warfare known to humanity.

In the summer of 1915, the Central Powers launched an offensive on the Eastern Front that they hoped would decide the war. It did not, of course. In June 1916, an Allied army under the command of Aleksei A. Brusilov decimated the Central Powers' gains of 1915. Brusilov's success brought Romania into the war, extinguished the offensive ability of the Habsburg armies, and forced Austria-Hungary into military dependence on and political subservience to Germany. The results were astonishing in military terms, but the political consequences were perhaps even more significant. More than any other action, the Brusilov Offensive brought the Habsburg Empire to the brink of a separate peace, while creating conditions for revolution within the Russian Imperial Army. Timothy C. Dowling tells the story of this important but little-known battle in the military and political history of the Eastern Front.

This captivating collection of first-hand accounts brings to life the War to End All Wars. It began with an act of terror involving two European powers. Over the next four years it spread across the globe and end up claiming the lives of 10 million people. From soldiers in the trenches to women factory workers, the world's first total war brought shared experiences and unique challenges to each of the groups it affected. Personal Perspectives: World War I offers a unique and unprecedented view of the Great War through the experiences of its participants - people of all ranks and races. Focusing on 12 major groups, essays by top international scholars put readers directly into the lives of victims of gas attacks, women factory workers, African American soldiers, pacifists, diplomats, and other groups both on the battlefield and at the home front. Of interest to both students and nonexperts, the work tells the stories of soldiers who suffered in the trenches, U-boat and anti-U-boat personnel, German Americans in the United States, and women activists like Florence Jaffrey Harriman. workers, readers will learn why British soldiers in the Netherlands were called malden robbers, how the YMCA set up huts to care for prisoners in POW camps, and how efforts to entertain U.S. troops led to the the largest theatrical enterprise in history.