"Sometimes it is the stark, matter-of-fact letters from uprooted soldiers home that best capture the mood of the times. Such is the case with Alfred Earl Jones, a private from rural California who fought in World War I, whose letters provide personal drama and are historically informative." - Peter Krass, author of Portrait of War: The U.S. Army's First Combat Artists and the Doughboys' Experience in WWI "This marvelously annotated collection of letters transports us back to the training camps, high seas, and battlefields; recounting the novelty, boredom and terror that so many young American men experienced going to war in 1917-18. These citizen-soldiers remained civilians at heart, and these letters attest to the importance of family in keeping men going at the front - offering an invaluable lesson for Americans today." - Jennifer D. Keene, author of Doughboys, the Great War and the Remaking of America (2001).