"Out Here at the Front": The World War I Letters of Nora Saltonstall (review)

The experience of war as told through the diaries and letters of participants in the conflict is a fascinating genre of military history, but most such works are limited to the writings of combat soldiers. In her work "Out Here at the Front," Judith Graham gives us a different facet of first-hand experience of conflict by presenting the war-time letters of Nora Saltonstall. She was a young lady from a wealthy and prominent Boston family, and the younger sister of Leverett Saltonstall who later became a powerful Republican leader in the U.S. Senate.

Shortly after America's entry into the First World War the twenty-three year old Nora went overseas to do her part for the Allied war effort. Arriving in France, Saltonstall worked in Paris with various volunteer organizations such as the Red Cross but always wanted to be more involved and closer to the scene of action. She got her wish in early 1918 when she managed to get assigned to a mobile field hospital in the British sector of the line shortly before the opening of the great German offensives of that year. The battles of 1918, and her close proximity and exposure to the backwash of wounded and stragglers behind Allied lines, makes this section of Saltonstall's letters the most interesting reading in the work from a military history perspective. In it, she describes her emotions and thoughts following the German breakthrough on 21 March 1918 and the chaos and fear which consumed the Allies at that time. Her unshakeable confidence in the ultimate triumph of the Allied forces at this dark moment for their cause makes for an interesting commentary on the overall attitude of the Allies as they struggled to regain their feet after the initial German successes.

Graham provides commentary to the letters, but often interjects it as a general summation in the midst of a chapter. The commentary itself is enlightening, although I found its mode of presentation to be awkward.

Graham's comments on military events is sparse, simple, and straightforward, which is for the best as this is not her area of expertise.

The rest of Graham's observations are insightful and reveal a deep understanding and empathy for her subject. Saltonstall is very much an unconventional lady for her day, and one can see in her the youth and energy which would transform the role of women in American society in the following decade. Thus the book also offers a fascinating glimpse into changing gender roles in modern America. It is also interesting to note that Saltonstall came from a patrician background, and in this sense she is part of the disproportionate number of sons and daughters from wealthy American families who served as volunteer ambulance drivers or nurses, or volunteered for active military service with the Allied armies even before America had entered the war. It would have been interesting to see Graham provide some thoughts on this issue and discuss the social mores and societal pressures of the day which contributed to this outburst of enthusiastic and active support for the Allied cause from America's social elite.

Graham is to be commended for the superb work she has done in editing these letters and not only bringing her subject to life, but also using her as a vehicle to explore deeper issues such as the experience of war and the evolving role of women in American society at this critical moment of the twentieth century.