The Great War was the gateway through which our grandparents passed from the relative innocence of the nineteenth century into our own troubled, uncertain era. Many of the giants of American history fought this war: Wilson, Hoover, Franklin Roosevelt, Truman, Marshall, Patton, MacArthur, and, feeding on fear of the growing communist menace, J. Edgar Hoover. It was a seminal period in the history of the United States and the world. But the American side of the story has remained largely untold, America's contribution to the war maligned or ignored, both at home and in Europe. Nineteen ninety-seven marks the eightieth anniversary of America's entry into the war. This book combines American, British, and French archival material to present a fresh and modern evaluation of America's performance - and the scars the experience of war left behind.