War Against War

October 15, 2016
A history of the campaign to oppose American intervention in World War I.Initially, the United States wanted no part of war. Despite the energetic cheerleading of "preparedness" supporters like Theodore Roosevelt and Henry Cabot Lodge, the country generally supported Woodrow Wilson's policy of neutrality as Europe tore itself apart and elected him to a second presidential term in 1916 as the peace candidate. A diverse group of leaders worked throughout this period to counter the advocates of war. Dissent co-editor Kazin (History/Georgetown Univ.; American Dreamers: How the Left Changed a Nation, 2011, etc.) builds his narrative around the activities of four of these, prominent at the time but little-known today: feminist crusader Crystal Eastman, socialist New York politician Morris Hillquit, segregationist House majority leader Claude Kitchin, and progressive senator Robert La Follette. Other prominent peace activists also make cameo appearances, as well, including Henry Ford, who sponsored the 1915 "Peace Ship" mission to Europe, four-time presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan, and the indefatigable Jane Addams. While these campaigners were anti-militarist and anti-interventionist, they were not isolationists but rather internationalists, many of whom maintained contact with like-minded Europeans on both sides of the conflict. Despite their efforts, the enigmatic Wilson, for reasons he never clarified, led a glum nation into war in April 1917, bringing down upon his erstwhile political allies an unprecedented program of repression, "the reckless fury of the wartime state." Kazin ably shows how a movement with sensible goals and the wind at its back can be broken by circumstances--here, the resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare by Germany--and a lack of political courage to resist party loyalties and intense emotional appeals. The author's sympathies are openly with the pacifists, but he presents all parties fairly in this well-researched, carefully written work. An illuminating, if discouraging, account of a doomed attempt to pull America back from an abyss.

COPYRIGHT(2016) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

October 15, 2016

The peace movement in America has a long history dating back to the establishment of the New York Peace Society in 1815. The outbreak of World War I presented the United States and President Woodrow Wilson with the challenge of staying neutral. Kazin (history, Georgetown Univ.; American Dreamers) crafts a smoothly written and solidly researched history of the efforts by numerous Americans to keep the United States out of the European conflagration that took place between 1914 and 1918. Focusing primarily on the activities of women's rights activist Jane Addams, feminist organizer Crystal Eastman, Sen. Robert La Follette, and politician Claude Kitchin, Kazin delves into how each individual contributed in their own way to the burgeoning antiwar crusade during the 19th century. Kazin's book fills in gaps of knowledge surrounding the peace movement that took place prior to the Vietnam War, offering an excellent introduction to domestic politics during World War I and the efforts that many people made to end the war, or failing that, keep the country from sending any men to die in Flanders Fields. VERDICT A valuable history suitable for all audiences and an important addition to American history and World War I literature.--Ed Goedeken, Iowa State Univ. Lib., Ames

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.