

The Long Way Home
An American Journey from Ellis Island to the Great War
Author: David Laskin
Narrator: Erik Synnestvedt
Unabridged: 13 hr 22 min
Format: Digital Audiobook Download
Publisher: Tantor Media
Published: 03/23/2010
Categories: Nonfiction, Biography & Autobiography, Military Nonfiction, History, Wars, World War I
Synopsis
Three of these soldiers died on the battlefield; two won the Congressional Medal of Honor; all were transformed forever by their experiences in combat. It is a transformation that continues to be felt in the pride and pain and cherished memories of immigrant families that have long since assimilated.
In tracing the lives of these twelve men, Laskin tells the story of an immigrant generation—a generation that streamed into this country in unprecedented numbers around the turn of the last century, that sweated to support their families through back-breaking physical labor, and that fought loyally for their adopted country on the battlefields of Belleau Wood, Soissons, St. Mihiel, and the Argonne forest.
Based on stories, letters, and diaries passed on by descendants—as well as Laskin's personal interviews with two foreign-born Doughboys who were still alive at the time he was researching the book, The Long Way Home is a reverent work of history and a deeply moving evocation of the dreams and sacrifice at the heart of the American experience.