A World on Edge: The End of the Great War and the Dawn of a New Age

From "Flanders Fields" and the last ghastly charges between trenches to the parades for the Harlem Hellfighters and celebrations throughout Europe, historian Schonpflug (Free Univ., Berlin) explores the changed world caused by World War I by following the lives of both ordinary and famous people during the last stages of the war. He succeeds in documenting the vastly transformed landscape as well as the dashed hopes for world peace in this book that follows history solely in order to provide context to the people chronicled. The epilog gives the final disposition of nearly two dozen actors in this play. Schonpflug profiles familiar names such as President Harry Truman and German politician Rudolf Hess along with lesser-known names such as teacher Moina Michael, who conceived of using the poppy as a symbol of remembering those who served in the Great War. African American war hero Henry Johnson dies alone in 1929, not recognized for his valor until posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in 2015.