Nervous Generation Book

This covers the life of a dozen immigrants to the US who fought in WWI, the times, & major circumstances of the day. Since most of my great grandparents were part of that flood of immigration that came through Ellis Island, I found the beginning really interesting. There was some repetition, but the first half was really good. A lot of the war time was good, but it bounced around a lot, got repetitious & confusing.

It's unfortunate that Laskin never served in the military. Some of the things he finds so horrific were laughable since they were pretty much the same when I served 6 decades later. It weakens his narrative about the conditions these people fled & then what they had to put up with on the ground in Europe. It's pretty obvious that he has no idea what the real miseries are. It couldn't cheapen the sacrifices these men made, though.

His description of Ellis Island is interesting, although I've read others & his aren't the best. He does make the point of how bewildering it was. Most were processed through in about 5 hours, but it was a crazy time. 5000 people a day was average & they often processed twice as many. The record was something over 11,000 people in one day.

The tensions over loyalties & the flood of immigrants is really well done, too. Almost 20% of the soldiers in WWI were immigrants, many without citizenship & no one was sure of their loyalties. In some cases, they weren't. Many Jews were all for the Soviet Union overthrowing the Czar not realizing what would arise. Immigrant Serbs, far from supporting the Austro-Hungarian empire, wanted to fight against it. Many Irish were pro-German because they were so anti-British. Many Germans wanted to be Americans & fought against Germany knowing they might be trying to kill relatives just like so many of the other immigrants. It's pretty amazing I sit here writing this today since my own family would have been on both sides of the conflict. Bewildering to me. Imagine how much more so it was for them.

Laskin covers WWI briefly, but well enough. He concentrates on the end in which the Americans participated & then goes on to tell the rest of the story of their lives. It's rather confused. Sometimes he tells several stories together & other times he tells just one in both cases. He draws parallels that I don't think were valid. 10 miles can make a big difference, but hearing some of the source material was interesting.

He takes us quickly through the fall out after the war & how the next generation had to fight another 'War To End All Wars'. One of the WWI veterans threw himself on his bed & wept at the news knowing his sons would have to serve. There was lot of anti-immigrant sentiment up through the McCarthy Era.

What disappointed me most about this book was that Laskin never related it to the issues we have with immigration today. Patriotism isn't fashionable with most any more. Unfortunately, our gov't has broken our trust far too often & continues to do so as it has turned into an oligarchy. Still, to those who want to immigrate here, it is a land of far better opportunity & most of these people are willing to work hard to become citizens. We're losing our unity, but we're still one of the best places to live.

He also seemed to think religion was a great thing, even when people refused to honor the social contract & wouldn't serve. I agree that conscientious objectors were poorly handled in WWI. Their brutal treatment is unconscionable, but he failed to make the point that even had the better rules been in place, some of these people still wouldn't have served in any capacity, even those available today. They shouldn't have been tortured, but they certainly don't have the right to eschew all service, either. They refused to even wear uniforms when they were the only clothes available. That sort of fanaticism can't be tolerated either, especially when it has no rational basis. There are limits to the freedom of religion & expressing it.

All told, it wasn't a bad book. It had a lot of good information that could have been better presented. His lack of personal experience & extreme liberalism didn't help either. It's certainly not a waste of time, though. If you've got the time, I recommend it.