This edition includes the following editor's introduction: Cecil Chesterton in World War I

"A History of the United States" was published posthumously in 1919, after Cecil Chesterton died in late 1918 from wounds received while fighting the "Great War". This work is a very interesting read that offers the point of view of a 19th century European about the birth and rise of the United States until the dawn of its participation in World War One.
Mainly written from the trenches of World War One with the aim of welcoming the United States and her soldiers to the war effort, Cecil Chesterton's compact history paints a picture of Britain's former colonies as an energetic and unique emerging force in the world. Most of the text reads as an insightful and careful history of the United States, albeit from a distinctly British point of view.