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1914-1918: The History of the First World War
 
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1914-1918: The History of the First World War (Paperback)

by David Stevenson (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
RRP: £12.99
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1914-1918: The History of the First World War + The Penguin History of the Second World War + The First World War: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)
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Product details

  • Paperback: 784 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin (1 Sep 2005)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0131172263
  • ISBN-13: 978-0131172265
  • ASIN: 0140268170
  • Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.6 x 3.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 9,772 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #9 in  Books > History > World History > World War I 1914-1918
    #29 in  Books > History > Military History > World War I
    #90 in  Books > History > Military History > Wars, Battles & Campaigns

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Product Description

Sunday Times, September 2004

' the most thorough account of the war human hand has yet assembled' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.


Independent, 3rd September, 2004

'this history of the 1914-1918 conflict surpasses all others. It is tough, erudit and comprehensive' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews

14 Reviews
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4 star:
 (3)
3 star:
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Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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42 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An essential read ..., 28 Feb 2006
I thought this a magnificent book. Its 600 pages are written in crystal clear English, covering the political, economic and military aspects of the War. The major campaigns of this global conflict are all well described, as is life on the home fronts of the Allies and the Central Powers. The origins are well described, while the chapters on the aftermath are particularly helpful. I recommend it strongly to those wishing to read a comprehensive history of the conflict for the first time, while those who have read other works on the War will find many new perspectives here. This book is superb value.
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A very good place to start in comprehending the incomprehensible, 10 Aug 2008
By John Ferngrove "Cirenor" (Hants UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This was the first serious book on WWI that I read. It should be made clear, as I think another reviewer bemoans, that this is not a chronological military history, but rather a 'meta'-historical account that examines the war from various perspectives running orthogonal to the timeline. So we come to understand the social, economic, industrial and political dimensions of the war.

I give it five stars because it exploded so many of the pre-conceptions I had held about the war. In the 60s & 70s when I was doing my O-level history at school the wisdom imparted was that WWI was a misery inflicted upon the masses by an uncaring ruling class. I now understand that none of the belligerent populations (with the complex exception of Russia) would have tolerated capitulation by their governments. I learned how Lloyd George as minister of munitions transformed Britain's munitions industry (that was making more duds than effectives) from a haphazard and rather ineffectual club of gentleman industrialists into a unified system of mass production that put Britain back into the fight. We learn about decisive technological and strategic failures and the decisive strategic and technological successes.

One of the most interesting chapters is the final one that deals with the history of Germany's war guilt. Once more the wisdom taught in my schooldays was that Germany was the unequivocal villain in the whole tragedy. But we find in this chapter that there was a long and complex story that lead up to Germany accepting this mantle that was actually encouraged by its more straightforward culpability for WWII. And that the story might yet take another twist as modern Germany starts to examine the origins afresh.

One thing I must say is that I now have read several detailed accounts of the beginnings of the war and how it escalated from the assasination of Archduke Ferdinand, and there are as many interpretations of what happened and where the blame lies, as there are accounts. Counterfactual aguments abound - if Russia had not mobilised so early against Austro-Hungary, and so on, and most controversially perhaps, would it truly have just been a replay of the Franco-Prussion war and over by Christmas if Lord Grey had not committed Britain to the fray. So, caveat emptor, take no single account of the origins of the war as definitive. I think it was Hugh Trevor-Roper that said that the final cause of WWI was that an intricate system of checks and balances that had given general peace in Europe for a hundred years, just suddenly went off the rails, as it was sooner or later bound to do. In the end it was everybody's fault and nobody's.
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19 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The best book about the First World War at present :o), 3 May 2006
By Jan Jensen "euro1999" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Readers should notice that 1914-1918: the History of the First World War (Penguin Press, 2004) is also published by Basic Books (New York) as Cataclysm: the First World War as Political Tragedy.

This book is very good, and gives an analytical and balanced view of the First World War. It must be the best book about the First World War at present. Mr Stevenson has made an interesting divison of the period in his book by focusing on cross-cutting issues in the middle of the war.

It is striking how close Germany was to winning the war if they themselves have not brought the UK and especially the USA in by violating Belgiums territory and with the unrestricted submarine war/Zimmermann telegram respectively. Just when Germany had defeated Russia due to the revolution, she brought the USA into the war. The only which was even more mad was that Hitler repeated the mistake in the Second World War by declaring war on the USA after Pearl Harbor. I think that without the USA in the equation Germany would with all likelihood have prevailed in both world wars.

I can recommend to supplement this reading with Annika Monbauers Helmuth von Moltke and the Origins of the First World War, which shows how the General staff operated in Germany without the same political control as in France for instance, where the chief of the General Staff Joffre had to let go of the idea of a strike through neutral Belgium due to political considerations. I can also very much recommend Nial Fergusons original analysis in The Pity of War, although I do not agree with him that France or Britain would have attacked Belgium without a German attack!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars This is not a detailed battle book - but no less an impressive "overview".
If you are looking for a book about which battalion attacked what position on what day, then this is not for you. Read more
Published 2 days ago by Fuzzy Bear

3.0 out of 5 stars TMI
Too much war, not enough European background. My fault, though.
I thought the book would focus more on the political and
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Published 10 months ago by I. S. Barker

4.0 out of 5 stars Not the first book to buy about the 1914-1918 war, but maybe the second.
1914-1918: The History of the First World War

I bought this book knowing nothing much about the First World War. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Clare Topping

5.0 out of 5 stars If you want to learn about the First World War, read this book.
It's hard work reading this book. It's over 600 closely-typed pages long and it can be daunting to turn a page and be met with such dense text and hardly a break. Read more
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5.0 out of 5 stars Excelent
This is an excellent read - both in its coverage and the writing itself. It is very readable and also covers aspects of the war that ordinarily are only covered in 'great tomes',... Read more
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4.0 out of 5 stars Very Enjoyable
1914-1918: The History of the First World War is a very readable and very interesting book. It provides interesting analysis and conclusions and does not stick to the usual... Read more
Published 19 months ago by HBH

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