author
Frederic William Wile
1873–1941
An American journalist, foreign correspondent, and radio commentator, he brought European politics and public affairs to U.S. readers with the eye of a reporter who had spent years close to the story. His books reflect a lifelong effort to explain Germany, Britain, and the international tensions of his day in clear, readable terms.
1 Audiobook
The Assault: Germany Before the Outbreak and England in War-Time
by Frederic William Wile
About the author
Born in La Porte, Indiana, on November 30, 1873, Frederic William Wile built his career as a newspaper reporter before becoming known more widely as a foreign correspondent and public commentator. Archival and library records describe him as a journalist, foreign correspondent, and radio commentator, and they preserve thousands of clippings, dispatches, and columns from his long career.
Wile is especially associated with writing on Germany and Europe in the years around the First World War. His books include Men Around the Kaiser, Who’s Who in Hunland, The German-American Plot, Explaining the Britishers, and a later biography, Emile Berliner, Maker of the Microphone. Taken together, they show a writer interested in politics, personality, propaganda, and the way world events could be made understandable to a general audience.
He died in Washington, D.C., in April 1941. Today, collections such as his papers and scrapbooks offer a vivid record of an American observer trying to interpret a rapidly changing world for readers back home.