I am currently researching for a Thesis topic and was wondering what the best reads are for the American impact (militarily) on the Western Front. To be more specific i would like something relating to the 69th IR "the fighting Irish" and or something relating to American national guard units. I would also like to know what you would consider "must Reads" for general military overview of the conflict. -THANKS! :)
/u/NMW's booklist is a good place to start; I've also got a number of books in my list as well. For general histories, Bloody Victory and War of Attrition by William Phillpott are excellent, as is The Great War by Peter Hart. For the AEF, the Thesis The AEF Way of War gives a good idea of the bloody learning process the Americans had to go through and should be available on PDF online. Edward Lengel's "to Conquer Hell" is a good account of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, which has a similar premise.
Edit: that thesis
http://oaktrust.library.tamu.edu/bitstream/handle/1969.1/569/etd-tamu-2003B-2003051315-Grot-1.pdf
It's also a book, by Mark Grotelueschen