This enlightening work examines how the First World War pushed the US into the 20th century. According to the author, America's accelerated modernisation during the early years of the century was brought on by the war's emphasis on unity, efficiency and standardisation in government, business and social life. This process both heightened public awareness of the many changes that had already taken place and brought to a head the conflict between old and new, rural and urban, which was to dominate the 1920s.