Press and Reviews
“…reads with the heart-quickening pace of a novel…Laskin’s great genius for creating affection for long-dead heroes lies in his tireless research.”
—Minneapolis Star Tribune
“In this compelling book, Laskin…follows the lives of 12 American doughboys who had been born in Europe and then returned there to fight for their adopted country in World War I. It’s an imaginative concept, and Laskin mines family legends and official documents to tell the stories of these ordinary foot soldiers from Italy and Ireland, Poland and Russia, Slovakia and Norway.”
—The Washington Post
“Laskin tells [the] individual stories with eloquence and feeling….This is a superb chronicle that illustrates how some young men were transformed into Americans.”
—Booklist
“A marvelous craftsman, Laskin interweaves the soldiers’ personal profiles into a greater context, which positions his work equally as a history…and also as a keen piece of social reflection on the role of the immigrant in shaping the fabric of American society…invaluable for readers interested in World War I.”
—Bookpage
“The accounts of the war itself stay stubbornly planted in the trenches….Just the lives — and, for several, the deaths — of 12 men who became American the hard way…a compelling and well-written account.”
—Etude
Praise for David Laskin’s National Bestseller
The Children’s Blizzard
“Heartbreaking… This account of the 1888 blizzard reads like a thriller.”
—Entertainment Weekly
“A fascinating account of the day the wind finally did what it always promises to do on those bleak Dakota prairies.”
—The Wall Street Journal
“David Laskin gives us the complete story in all its fascinating, often harrowing detail… A vital addition to the lore of Western immigrant pioneering… A terrifying but beautifully written book.”
—Washington Post
“Terrifying and often vivid… This book should be read by anyone wishing to fathom the terrible cost of settling that desolate, dangerous, and beautiful land.”
—Atlantic Monthly
“A heartrending tale… With a flair for novelistic detail, Laskin brings many of these settlers back to life.”
—Minneapolis Star Tribune
“Laskin excels at making these Plains pioneers live again…”
—USA Today