PROSPERITY, DEPRESSION, REFORM 179phrase “no-man’s-land” was used to designate
the exposed and immovable zone between the two
belligerents. The barbed wire marked along the front
was an innovation of the American West, originally
designed to rein in cattle but here used to prevent
soldiers from rushing the line. Behind the wire were
two lines to keep watch and fire upon the enemy.
The zigzag lines of communication and movement
enabled men to sustain the line for years, rotating
soldiers and sending supplies in as needed from the
rear. Empey even includes shell holes to remind the
viewer of the dangers not just across the front, but
above the line as well.
Empey’s stylized and sanitized sketch may not
overtly express the terror of the front, yet therein
lies the importance of his map: by “diagramming”
these general geographical patterns across Europe
he inadvertently revealed the futility of the years of
trench warfare that were to consume a generation. By
World War II, the advent of air power as well as tanks
would render trenches a thing of the past.
Empey’s memoir was published just as the nation
declared war on Germany, and that timing made it
an instant bestseller. Newspapers across the nation
excerpted passages, billing it as an authoritative
account from an American who was “two years ahead
of his country.” For months Empey traveled the US
to aid the war effort and the draft, testifying to its
importance at a time when many Americans remained
skeptical of the Allies. Wilson had promoted neutrality
for over two years, and so the administration treated
Over the Top as an essential text for the Allied cause and
Empey as a model of national service.
In interviews, Empey promoted enlistment, and
gave plenty of advice. He warned the Americans not
to present themselves as the saviors of Europe, and
to acknowledge the years that the French and British
had already been at war. He downplayed the dangers
of service, advising his fellow Americans that the
newspapers had painted a lopsided view of combat.
Trench warfare was grim enough, he remarked, but
the experience also brought a sense of camaraderie.
Above all, he wrote, the war made him a man, and
could do the same for any other American brave
enough to serve.
In a twist that says much about the contemporary
moment, once Empey finished rallying support for
the war he went to California to star in the motion
picture version of his memoir. It was one of the first
feature films produced in Hollywood. Thereafter he
made a career in silent films, part of a growing cohort
in Hollywood that is detailed on page 194.