Kings, queens, and pawns: an American woman at the front

In 1914, journalist and mystery writer Mary Roberts Rinehart traveled to Europe alone to cover World War I for theSaturday EveningPost. This collection of her writings encompasses her observations on her travels—from being received by King Albert in Belgium and recording his first authorized statement on the war, to meeting Winston Churchill, to traveling to the English and French front lines as the first correspondent permitted there. Rinehart’s book was a humanitarian plea to Americans to join the war effort three years before the American Expeditionary Force set sail for Europe, an unpopular view vindicated by subsequent events.