Civilians in a World at War: 1914-1918

At least 19 countries were involved in fighting WWI, creating a vast amount of ground to cover for the writer intent on chronicling the experiences of the war's civilians, and though Proctor has done her research, her text never comes alive. She focuses on civilian contributions to the war efforts, the refugee camp experience, and normal citizens caught in fighting, but rarely takes more than a cursory glance at any particular moment or, indeed, civilian. More likely is the single page that finds her narrative jumping between British East Africa, rural Russia, Baghdad, South Africa, and Syria, making it impossible for readers to know or care for anyone involved. Proctor clogs passages with facts about government-imposed food and price controls and attempts to prove contentions that many will find obvious, such as her wish to demonstrate that "despite differences of political structure, language, age, race, gender, class and geographical location, civilians in all countries faced many of the same challenges in making sense of the war..." By focusing on the sameness of experience, the author misses out on more fertile ground. Illus. (Aug.)