Were the effects of First World War truly similar globally? A comparison of how the conflict was perceived by two extremely different groups of rural people – southern Americans of the Jackson Purchase region of far western Kentucky and Africans in the small British Protectorate of Nyasaland in south central Africa – makes their microhistories significant rather than trivial by placing them a global context. In the early twentieth century, both groups were not only rural, but removed, decidedly disconnected from each other. Yet, drawing on documentary evidence, especially interviews with the last generation of First World War survivors in both regions, offers a significant perspective on how similar their experiences actually became in the crucible of a global war. The call to arms, their recruitment and resistance to service, combat adversities and cultural experiences, post-war disillusionments and triumphs, and especially the economic consequences of their war provide penetrating insights into the wide-ranging ordeals and opportunities that this first truly global event offered peoples worldwide.

中文翻译：

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从农场上来：第一次世界大战中美国农村和非洲人的全球微观历史

第一次世界大战的影响在全球范围内真的相似吗？比较两个截然不同的农村人群体——远在肯塔基州西部杰克逊购买地区的南美洲人和非洲中南部小英国保护国尼亚萨兰的非洲人——对冲突的看法，使他们的微观历史意义重大，而不是微不足道的。将它们置于全局上下文中。在 20 世纪初，这两个群体不仅是农村的，而且是远离的，彼此断然分离。然而，利用文献证据，特别是对这两个地区最后一代第一次世界大战幸存者的采访，提供了一个重要的视角，即他们的经历在全球战争的熔炉中实际上变得多么相似。对武器的召唤，他们的招募和对服役的抵抗，