Military Review English Edition November December 2016 | Page 135

BOOK REVIEWS

Patton’s life story up to that moment in 1918. Patton was
a lieutenant colonel at the time; he was wounded on the
first day of the Meuse–Argonne offensive and sat out
the rest of the war in a hospital. His contributions to the
offensive were insignificant as were those of the lightly
skinned and unreliable Renault tanks that he led into
battle. The tangent on Patton’s life story is somewhat of a
distraction and seems out of place when considering the
magnitude of the Meuse–Argonne offensive.
More time and research could have been spent on
other key players, such as Pershing’s corps commanders. Much attention is given to Hunter Liggett, Robert
Bullard, and Charles Summerall, but scarce information
is provided on the careers and lives of George Cameron,
John Hines, and Joseph Dickman. The author also alludes
to the interpersonal frictions among the senior AEF
commanders but does not stress enough how Pershing’s
own penchant for micromanagement and interpersonal
rivalries plagued the command climate of the AEF.
Overall, this book was entertaining and full of interesting politi cal and military stories, many of which are applicable today. Someone with limited knowledge of First
World War history will find it fascinating, and it may
lead him or her to a new interest in this often forgotten
chapter in U.S. military history.

Lt. Col. Andrew P. Creel, U.S. Army,
Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

AN AMERICAN SOLDIER IN
THE GREAT WAR

The World War I Diary and Letters
of Elmer O. Smith
John DellaGiustina, Hellgate Press,
Ashland, Oregon, 2015, 356 pages

R

eminiscent of aspects from such books as
Citizen Soldiers and Poilu, DellaGiustina’s An
American Soldier in the Great War provides a
first-hand account of war as seen through the written
record of the protagonist, Elmer O. Smith. Few books
have covered the life of a soldier from enlisting through
combat and back to demobilization as thoroughly as
this book, particularly with as much primary source
documentation. This is largely due to the familial link
between the author and the subject, providing the
MILITARY REVIEW  November-December 2016

former easy access to large amounts of material and
people who knew (or heard stories of) Smith.
Aside from its foundation on primary sources, the main strength of this book is the approach
DellaGiustina takes to frame each chapter, providing
an introduction that places people, contemporary
events, and basic explanations of military facts (e.g.,
ranks, the structure of units, and locations of posts)
that are pertinent to the story. This serves to inform the
reader of items that Smith would address in his diary
and letters, and it improves understanding by providing
context. While these items will slow down a reader well
informed in the early twentieth century or the military,
they are valuable for the uninitiated reader, most likely
the author’s primary audience.
The author provides a comprehensive look at the
entire “war-making cycle” from the viewpoint of a
participant in World War I. As a new researcher in the
period, I found it valuable to understand mobilization,
training, movement
to the area of operations, tactical combat
(to include becoming
a casualty and medical care), completion
of service, and demobilization. Based
on my own interests,
I especially enjoyed
the introductions by
DellaGiustina and
his subject’s letters
on the process of
mobilization and
training. I imagine other readers would find more value
in Smith’s experiences in the trenches and fighting the
key American battles in France.
The most disappointing aspect of this book stems
from its strength in primary source material—the
mundane and uninformative nature of most of the letters and diary entries tends to drown out the nuggets of
knowledge. Significant portions of the quoted primary
sources focus on the subject’s health and pleasantries
with family, with few insights as to training, combat, or
other items that provide understanding as to the events
in which Smith was a participant. The author would
have been better served to more closely curate the
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