March 1917: On the Brink of War and Revolution

Englund, Will

ISBN 10: 0393292088 / ISBN 13: 9780393292084

Published by W. W. Norton & Company, 2017

About this Item

"We are provincials no longer," declared Woodrow Wilson on March 5, 1917, at his second inauguration. He spoke on the eve of America's entrance into World War I, just as Russia teetered between autocracy and democracy. In the face of chaos and turmoil in Europe, Wilson was determined to move America away from the isolationism that had defined the nation's foreign policy since its inception and to embrace an active role in shaping world affairs. Just ten days later, Tsar Nicholas II abdicated the Russian throne, ending a three-centuries-long dynasty and plunging his country into a new era of uncertainty, ultimately paving the way for the creation of a Soviet empire. Within a few short weeks, at Wilson's urging, Congress voted to declare war on Germany, asserting the United States' new role as a global power and its commitment to spreading American ideals abroad. Yet at home it remained a Jim Crow nation, and African Americans had their own struggle to pursue. American women were agitating for the vote and a greater role in society, and labor strife was rampant. As a consequence of the war that followed, the United States and Russia were to endure a century of wariness and hostility that flickers and flares to this day. MARCH 1917 reexamines these tumultuous events and their consequences in a compelling new analysis. Drawing on a wealth of contemporary Russian and American diaries, memoirs, oral histories, and newspaper accounts, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Will Englund creates a highly detailed and textured account of the month that transformed the world's greatest nations. MARCH 1917 considers the dreams of that year's warriors, pacifists, activists, revolutionaries, and reactionaries, and demonstrates how their successes and failures constitute the origin story of our complex modern world. Seller Inventory # 001008

Bibliographic Details

Title: March 1917: On the Brink of War and ...

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Publication Date: 2017

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: New

Dust Jacket Condition: New

Edition: 1st Edition

About this title

Synopsis:

"We are provincials no longer", said Woodrow Wilson on 5 March 1917, at his second inaugural. He spoke on the eve of America's entrance into the First World War, as Russia teetered between autocracy and democracy. Just ten days after Wilson's declaration, Tsar Nicholas II abdicated the throne, ending a three-centuries-long dynasty and ushering in the false dawn of a democratic Russia. Wilson asked Congress to declare war against Germany a few short weeks later, asserting the United States's new role as a global power and its commitment to spreading American ideals abroad. Will Englund draws on a wealth of contemporary diaries, memoirs and newspaper accounts to add texture and personal detail to the story of that month. March 1917 celebrates the dreams of warriors, pacifists, revolutionaries and reactionaries, even as it demonstrates how their successes and failures constitute the origin story of the complex world we inhabit a century later.

About the Author:

Pulitzer, Polk, and Overseas Press Club Award-winning journalist Will Englund was a recent Moscow correspondent for The Washington Post and has spent a total of twelve years reporting from Russia. He now lives in Baltimore, Maryland.