Friends of France: The Field Service of the American Ambulance described by its members (1916), by Andrew A. Piatt (editor)

The United States did not officially enter World War I until 1917, but many Americans worked in the European war zone before that date.

These Americans included ambulance drivers, whose efforts from 1914 to 1916 are described in Friends of France: The Field Service of the American Ambulance described by its members.

As the title indicates, this book has many authors. The college education of these authors is evident in the quality of the writing, which is higher than you might expect from non-professional writers.

The front-line battles are the main story of every war, but books like Friends of France describe the incredible amount of activity that goes on behind the front lines.

Short Rations: An American Woman in Germany (1917), by Madeleine Z. Doty

The German home front is a major topic in this book by Madeleine Z. Doty, who in 1917 was best known as a lawyer who was involved in prison reform. The title of the book refers to deprivations on the home front while men were fighting the war.

The book details trips to Germany by Doty in 1915 and 1916 that were part journalism assignments and part journeys of curiosity.

Kings, Queens and Pawns (1915), by Mary Roberts Rinehart

One of the most compelling parts of books written during World War I is the contrast between the initial observations of eyewitnesses and the war-weary insights of participants who have had to learn to accept the daily realities of war.

That contrast is a running theme of Kings, Queens and Pawns, by the American author Mary Roberts Rinehart, who by 1915 had become a well-known author of novels, plays, and short stories.

Fear God and Take Your Own Part (1916), by Theodore Roosevelt

Fear God and Take Your Own Part was a followup to Theodore Roosevelt's 1915 book, America and the World War.  That earlier book was a collection of writings by Roosevelt in late 1914, after war had broken out in Europe.

In Fear God and Take Your Own Part, Roosevelt wrote about the response of the United States to German aggression during the war, in particular the sinking of the Lusitania in 1915, which caused the deaths of many United States citizens. 

Now It Can Be Told (1920), by Philip Gibbs

By 1920, the postwar period after World War I was well under way.  The Armistice and the Treaty of Versailles had been signed.  Throughout a much-changed world, people looked to the future with a mixture of hope and dread.

It was also a time of serious reflection about the physical and emotional destruction of the European war that had lasted for more than four years.

For noted British war correspondent Philip Gibbs (1877-1962), that reflection took the form of a 558-page book titled Now It Can Be Told.

Gallipoli (1916), by John Masefield

The British-led effort in 1915 to take the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey and take control of the Dardanelles waterway is one of the most debated and discussed campaigns of World War I.

An early contributor to this discussion was the famous British writer John Masefield, who took a break from his usual work as poet, playwright, and novelist to write the 1916 book Gallipoli.

The White Flame of France (1918), by Maude Radford Warren

Writers from North America who travelled to Europe to gather material for newspaper articles, magazine articles, and books about the European War were always on a journey of understanding.

When The Saturday Evening Post sent Canadian and United States novelist Maude Radford Warren (1875–1934) to Europe in 1916, the articles that she wrote for the Post in 1917 later formed the content of the 1918 book The White Flame of France.  The book takes the reader from Warren's trans-Atlantic voyage to the trenches of northeastern France.