Serpents of War, the memoir of Pennsylvanian Major Harry Dravo Parkin, is a rare account of World War I as seen from the perspective of a battalion commander. As a mid-level officer responsible for the lives and welfare of over a thousand men, Parkin conveys the stress of command at a time when one innocent blunder could cost an officer his combat assignment, brings the inferno of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive to life in terrifying, gory detail, and recounts being taken prisoner by the Imperial German Army—a rare experience among American soldiers in 1918. In addition, Parkin provides a detailed account of the 79th Division’s attack on Mountfaucon, a military action that remains controversial to this day. This is a book by a brave soldier, a recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross for his heroism on the battlefield, and a gifted writer.
Serpents of War is an abridged edition of a nearly 200, 000-word World War I memoir that resides in Gettysburg College’s Musselman Library, enhanced by the contributions of two scholars of World War I and memory. Written in an unassuming but eloquent style, Parkin’s narrative seldom strains for effect. It possesses a strong sense of setting, a knack for capturing the chaos and strange exhilaration of battle, and a sharp eye for the interpersonal, social dynamics of military life—the personality clashes and simmering feuds, as well as the moments of comradeship and accord. Serpents of War is an absorbing memoir that holds the reader’s attention from beginning to end.
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List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Editors’ Note
1. Camp Meade
2. Our Voyage and Arrival in France
3. In the Training Area
4. The Army School at Langres
5. The March to the Battle of the Argonne
6. On the Front Line
7. In Support in the Battle of the Argonne
8. Leading the Attack
9. Another Lost Battalion
10. Relief
11. The St. Mihiel Front
12. Holding the Line
13. To Verdun
14. Near Hill
15. Wounded and Captured
16. In Germany
Back in France
Epilogue: The Greatest War Story I Ever Heard
Appendix A
Appendix B
Index
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Steven Trout is professor of English, University of Alabama, and author of On the Battlefield of Memory: The First World War and American Remembrance, 1919–1941, and two other books.Ian Isherwood is associate professor of war and memory studies, Gettysburg College, and author of Remembering the Great War: Writing and Publishing the Experiences of World War I.
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