Book Review Of No Man's Land By John Toland

No Man’s Land, by John Toland, is a book about the Great War and the last year of the conflict. John Toland was an American novelist, Pulitzer Prize winning author, and historian who was chiefly a writer of fact-based books. Toland describes World War I using a myriad of eyewitness accounts, memoirs, diaries, and other explanations in a way that is not too overwhelming. That being said, Toland has produced a very comprehensive and sensible piece of work. No Man’s Land reexamines the key, political, financial, martial, and civil events of the Great War. Toland focuses on the Western Front, describing the tactics and strategies used along with some other savory key points. Readers see the final year of the Great War and the last big offensive
Toland stresses the importance of the American intervention saying in the prologue that “The only hope of Allied victory now appeared to be America”... exclaiming “America was indeed the hope of the Allies” (XV). A great example of this is after the Battle of Belleau Wood, during the 1918 spring offensive, Toland would exclaim, “The dash and raw courage of the Leathernecks struck terror in those defending the wood and word was passed to beware the wild Americans” (288). Toland also describes the St. Mihiel breakthrough, which was the only attack led by the Americans in the conflict and the first true test of American leadership in the war. The Americans, led by officers such as the undeveloped Lieutenant Colonel George Patton and Colonel Douglas MacArthur (unlike other commanders who directed their troops from the back, Patton and MacArthur would lead their men from the front lines), would fight with great intensity and heroism taking thousands German prisoners by the end of the St. Mihiel battle. The Americans gained respect in the eyes of the French and British forces as a result of each of their victories, and sacrifices.
The battles shown in Toland’s No Man’s Land were described in great detail. Toland gave lengthy descriptions of the characters involved and the environments in which they
The picture with the three British prisoners was perhaps the most interesting. The photograph displayed three British combatants, lined up in front of a camera along with some Germans in the background. The Germans made each of the three combatants wear a set of silly head coverings, most likely to embarrass the three men. It can only suggested that the three men were forced to wear them to deliver a good propaganda photograph for the German war effort. Other photographs in Toland's book also showed the effects of war and the hell that came with it. Some showed valor and spirit while others showed the death and decay that comes with war. The photos shown in the text reveal emotions in a way that the words of the text could