Shortly after the United Sates joined the war in 1917, J. Andre Smith, an architect and artist by trade, enlisted in the Army Reserve. He was serving with the Camouflage Corps, 40th Engineers when he was tapped to lead a group of eight artists, commissioned to document the activities of the American Expeditionary Forces in France. From March of 1918 until armistice, Andre Smith produced a prolific amount of artwork, documenting what he saw as “War, the business man, instead of War, the warrior.” His illustrations depict the backdrop of war, alternately evoking the tranquility of the countryside, and the stark destruction of the trenches.



After the war, Smith published a collection of his reflections and illustrations. This book is a reproduction of the original 1919 volume, and contains some imperfections, both as part of the original artifact and as part of the scanning process. This version is reprinted by the Art & History Museums – Maitland.