My Fellow Soldiers

General John Pershing and the Americans Who Helped Win the Great War

By: Andrew Carroll

Narrated by: Andrew Carroll

Length: 11 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

From the New York Times best-selling author of War Letters and Behind the Lines, Andrew Carroll's My Fellow Soldiers draws on a rich trove of both little-known and newly uncovered letters and diaries to create a marvelously vivid and moving account of the American experience in World War I, with General John Pershing featured prominently in the foreground.

Andrew Carroll's intimate portrait of General Pershing, who led all of the American troops in Europe during World War I, is a revelation. Given a military force that on the eve of its entry into the war was downright primitive compared to the European combatants, the general surmounted enormous obstacles to build an army and ultimately command millions of US soldiers. But Pershing himself - often perceived as a harsh, humorless, and wooden leader - concealed inner agony from those around him: almost two years before the United States entered the war, Pershing suffered a personal tragedy so catastrophic that he almost went insane with grief and remained haunted by the loss for the rest of his life, as private and previously unpublished letters he wrote to family members now reveal. Before leaving for Europe, Pershing also had a passionate romance with George Patton's sister, Anne. But once he was in France, Pershing fell madly in love with a young painter named Micheline Resco, whom he later married in secret.

Woven throughout Pershing's story are the experiences of a remarkable group of American men and women, both the famous and unheralded, including Harry Truman, Douglas Macarthur, William "Wild Bill" Donovan, Teddy Roosevelt, and his youngest son, Quentin. The chorus of these voices, which begins with the first Americans who enlisted in the French Foreign Legion in 1914 as well as those who flew with the Lafayette Escadrille, makes the high stakes of this epic American saga piercingly real and demonstrates the war's profound impact on the individuals who served - during and in the years after the conflict - with extraordinary humanity and emotional force.

©2017 Andrew Carroll (P)2017 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Selecting excerpts from thousands of letters to highlight the human perception of the war, Carroll embeds these recollections in a clear, chronological war narrative that takes the reader from the beginning of the war in 1914 through President Wilson’s decision to enter the war in 1917 and the U.S. military’s combat experience for the remainder of the conflict. Carroll uses the personal correspondence of Gen. Pershing, the U.S. commander in France, as a means of establishing the war timeline. Varied American perspectives of the war are included, and the letters of African-Americans and women figure prominently in the work.... Carroll has produced an engaging and informative introduction to a war that has been largely relegated to the shadows by the subsequent global conflagration.” (Publishers Weekly)

“Illuminating first-hand letters and diaries, including some newly discovered, enable the author to credibly deliver another historical non-fiction masterpiece.... The many stirring first-person accounts of soldiers, aviators, and volunteer American nurses combine to make this superbly crafted history highly recommended.” (Historical Novel Society)

“A fascinating and timely history.... An accessible account of the American Expeditionary Forces in World War I and its commander, General John Pershing.” (Shelf Awareness)

Well Done Popular History

Authors pick and choose what facts to include and how to stich them together into a story. Mr. Carroll does so in a way both entertaining and informative. His book is not exhaustive for details. It is one of the best for enjoyable listening, fleshing out main characters and main actions of the war using chosen anecdotes. I recommend it.

Great historical information

I loved this book. I am always interested in the various wars and military history but it seems to me that WWI always comes up short in the reviews of the history of this country. WWII overshadows it by so much that WWI is hardly mentioned. This was a great history and many of the military personnel discussed in this book end up figuring prominently in WWII. Pershing himself was also a fascinating man and the letter he wrote, for which this book is named, was moving. I highly recommend it.

An Excellent Look at the Great War

This is a fantastic collection of war correspondence from the soldiers, nurses and support personnel that were on ground and in the trenches. This book conveys the horror of trench warfare from the eyes of the men in them and the women who were caring for the wounded while following the career path of General Pershing. Overall, it was a great look at The War To End All Wars.

Thoughtful Overview of World War I

The author provided details of often overlooked competing national ambitions that sparked the land grab called the Great War. The only reason France and England wanted the United States in the war was to replenish with American boys the hundreds of thousands of soldiers their commanders wantonly slaughtered in their years long stalemate. The book describes in stark language the unspeakable damage done to soldiers bodies by industrial grade weapons.

So good I sent a copy each to two friends.

Wonderful history. It was so good that I had to send a copy each to two friends.

Cannot believe how interesting this book is!

Love to read history, sometimes not so much cause the writers are, well rather dry in their delivery on the page of exciting events. This book was Great surprise! It’s an engrossing account of a time that nowadays we don’t hear much about because it’s overshadowed by WW2. This bio of not only General Pershing but many others who went onto lead key rolls in the next World War and beyond is fascinating. It’s told in a breezy manner that reads like a novel. It was hard to believe the author narrated it because it ranks with one of the best read books I’ve ever listened to and I’ve listened to several thousand audiobooks. Now i want to read/listen to everything this author has written. If you want to know about history or just a good read about the stranger than fiction real life of people who shaped the last century, get this book!

Great, detailed book about ...

Great, detailed book about the general who commanded the AEF in there First World War

Magnificent read, and very well read.

I thoroughly enjoyed this title, and will probably look to purchase a copy in print later. I really liked that the author put work into capturing enough of the grand picture to make the individual letters and lives fall in place and have greater meaning, while making the individuals the main focus of the work. I feel like I got a much better picture into American involvement in the war, and the effect it held on soldiers, noncombatants, and loved ones alike, as well as an excellent look into the life of Gen Pershing, which was the reason I wanted to try this title in the first place. The author clearly put a lot of hard work into making a great piece, and has an excellent voice for this story!

Hearing it brings it more to life

I am working on the WWI monument for our Veteans Park and this was extremely helpful. Thank you.

Thanks

Thank you so much for this wonderful lesson o true leadership. Also, it was wonderful to learn about his admiration for black troops and US Grant.