The Audacious War

Banking reserves, tariffs and trade agreements shape Clarence W. Barron's account of the first six months of World War I. Published in 1915, the book gathers reports written for financial publications after his winter visit to Europe. Barron connects commercial rivalries with military preparations and discusses railway projects, oil resources and the possible effects of the conflict on American business. His arguments reflect a financial journalist's effort to explain events while the war was still unfolding.

The reports also describe everyday conditions in England: recruits training along country roads, enlistment notices on taxi windows, empty hotels and restrictions on London's lighting. These observations sit beside Barron's favorable assessment of Britain and his proposal for an international body able to preserve peace. For readers interested in economic history, the book offers a contemporary view of how finance, national ambitions and civilian life were brought into the same discussion of war.