an American Opinion Monthly
In spite of it's colorful and striking covers of war scenes, 'the Literary Digest' was not a newsmagazine as much as an opinion monthly, publishing editorial and political commentaries on a vast number of issues, some war-related, others domestic or religious in scope. It usually contained a number of political cartoons, at times quite incomprehensibly allegorical for modern day readers, but apparently in keeping with the style of the Great War period. 'The Literary Digest' also contained a vast amount of advertising, like most American publications. This advertising was a prominent feature, certainly compared to European magazines of the time, at times elaborate and obviously costly.
In the following pages are a number of very appealing coverpages featuring war-related scenes, all dramatic and stiring, but also quite fanciful, as one would expect from artists far removed from any experience of the European War, even from exchanges with actual combattants and veterans.