All the flap about the abysmal behavior of a pouting POTUS obscured deeper meanings surrounding the centennial of an armistice for a war that was supposed to end all wars. Of all the writing marking the occasion, an essay by William Vollmann in the Smithsonian best conveys the horrors of those years.
Brief excerpts below, with details from — and a source photograph for — John Singer Sargent’s painting, Gassed.
˜˜˜˜˜
