The Long Way Home

The book explores the various experiences some of the immigrants to America had during the Great War time. It is a well articulated masterpiece that is keen on explaining the significance of the historical events in American. All American citizens need to appreciate the great sacrifice of the war veterans. The challenges are examined based on the fact that America was a land of great hope and opportunity, only to realize that was just a dream. Reason being it was just a devastating place. It is a great analysis of American history. The main focus is on the first war that appears to have been forgotten by many, thus making it a task for citizens to truly understand America and its history.

Comparing the experiences, it is evident that, war was filled with great hostility. The British and the French had great suspicion of their American counterparts. This explains the reason why the Americans had to stay back during the war. The central powers between these nations were detrimental and this created disunity. The immigrants were discriminated upon and the living conditions were hard thus making it a hopeless expedition to America. Following this, there had to be changes that needed to be made so as to reduce the great tension between British, Germans and Americans. A great step towards achieving unity between them was, the soldiers had to learn English and this seemed to be of great value CITATION Ken04 p 4 l 1033 (Kennedy 4).

Americanization of many of the immigrants was of great influence to the unity of the army. The American Expedition force that was the army then became cohesive unit. Even though the immigrants seemed to have retained the cultures and remained in their different regions, English language influenced their unity. Soldiers were educated on the fact that they were all human beings not entities. The Great War unified America as it forms part of a great revolution. The author explores a number of battles that took place during that time. These include: Argonne Forrest Belleau Wood, second battle of the Marne and Mont Blanc. These battles signified how Americans could unite with the British and the Germans despite the initial suspicions they had of each other before CITATION Las10 p 4 l 1033 (Laskin 4).

There is an aspect of physical, psychological and economical effects of the war. Many of the soldiers had psychological trauma following the inhumane nature of the war. They had no ways to manage their mental statuses and thus this formed a greater part of the challenges. Some of the soldiers had families back home and this clearly signifies why the war was a great turning point for many of them. Family brought in emotions and thus depicts what transpired in the Ellis Island as an aspect of hopeful people. Some of the soldiers died during war and others married and lived for as long as hundred years. They form a great part of the heritage. For those who died during war, their families were rewarded by a life insurance and this clearly shows how of great value was the war for the various societies. It is a well articulated and researched book that tries to avoid generalizations and examines the entire truth about the American heritage. It is pertinent that historians comprehend the true events properly.

References

 Kennedy, David. Over Here-the First World War and American Society. London: Oxford, 2004. Print.

Laskin, David. The Long Way Home-an American Journey from Ellis Island to the Great War. New York,

NY: Harper-Perennial, 2010. Print.