- Paperback: 144 pages
- Publisher: OUP Oxford; New Ed edition (13 Mar 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0192804456
- ISBN-13: 978-0192804457
- Product Dimensions: 19.3 x 13.9 x 1.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 570,323 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
The First World War : A Very Short Introduction
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Product Description
Review
"The best concise introduction to and overview of World War I."--Military Heritage
"A concise, credible, lucid account of the causes, battles, politics, and consequences of the Great War. Howard compresses a mass of material, theory, and argument. His ambition, he states, is merely to introduce. But he does far more; he also engages and educates.... Demonstrates with clarity, craft, and precision that even in scholarship less can be more."--Kirkus Reviews
"Succintly expressive, Howard's style concentrates narrative and interpretation within a few sentences, but a deep historical controversy often lurks behind his conclusion, such as who was responsible for igniting the war....Howard elegantly applies his erudition and judgement to this concise introduction."--Booklist
Product Description
This book is an insightful narrative history, focusing on why the First World War occurred, how it was fought, and why it had the consequences it did. It examines in turn the state of Europe in 1914 and the outbreak of war; the onset of attrition in 1915 and the extension of the war; the 'crisis of the war' (1917-18), the collapse of Russia and the weakening and eventual surrender of the Central Powers; the making of peace; and the historical controversies surrounding the causes and conduct of war.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
40 of 40 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
It takes someone who really understands their subject to be able to write sparingly and still make the reader think. We all know the essence of this, the most horrid of wars. Gas, shells, machine guns, senseless offensives - we all have a vile image of trenches. Unlike other writers, Howard does not set out to alter this image. This book is an introduction to the military history of the war. The Eastern Front, Gallipoli, the war at sea are all covered and a truly global image emerges of powers pouring their lifeblood into a conflict that showed little sign of abating. This is the essence of the war. Howard shows how German victories on both the Eastern Front at the start of the war, and the Western Front at the end of the war, could not achieve the Clausewitzian victory of the Franco-Prussian war. He shows how dogged Allied tactical problem solving, especially in artillery support, and mobilisation of resources, especially in America, enabled the victors to press on to final victory. This was total war, this was grinding, grueling, starving, industrial war, won by deep pockets and sheer determination. This is the introduction to Strachan's in depth study. This is the book that anyone interested in the Twentieth Century should read. This is distilled historical thought.
17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
If you know nothing of WW1 then this surely is the place to start. Howard's introduction is masterful. Given the fearful complexity of the origins, course and outcome of the War he manages to make his text remarkably accessible. I chewed over many new components. Given the sparseness of the book (30,000 words), it is also impressive that manages to make it truly moving (sacrifice, misery and disaster all round) while not getting bogged down either in the `war poet vision' or the historiographical controversies.
I strongly recommend it. I wonder if he could do the same with WW2? Or has he?
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is mesmerising. Brief, passionate, brilliant. The author describes all the main events, political changes and battles in a simple but effective manner.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Does exactly what it says on the tin
There's not much to say about this really. It's a well written book that gives a very brief insight into the Great War. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Londoner 333
Superb Introduction to the First World War
I was looking for an introduction to the first world war, why the war was fought in the first place, who was involved and a brief history of the main events. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Guy
Possibly a bit too short
If, like me, you have little understanding of the causes and development of the Great War, this is an excellent primer and an easy read. Read more
Published 5 months ago by James H
The First World War: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short...
I went on a trip to Ypres not really knowing much about the history of WW1. I do now thanks to this excellent book. "A very short introduction....... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Mydogsbacklegs
5 stars
I cannot add or takeaway from the reviews here already other than to say this is a well written, informative introduction to WW1. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Christopher J. Whitehead
Excellent
A worthy addition to the AVSI series. It was never going to be easy to write such a concise book on such a vast subject but the author does a wonderful job in concisely covering... Read more
Published 13 months ago by discipleofhanuman
WW1onderful
I took my son to the Imperial War Museum between Xmas and New Year last year (thoroughly recommended) and was a bit disappointed at my lack of knowledge on WW1. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Rob Sawyer
A model of conciseness
I was looking for a "back of the cornflakes packet" overview of the First World War, having failed to get too much out of some longer books. Read more
Published on 2 Mar 2010 by J. Thomas
Good for the beginner
This is by Michael Howard the historian, not the Conservative politician. It is a good, concise, though rather bland, account of events leading up to and during the conflicts that... Read more
Published on 27 Jan 2010 by Eileen Shaw
A Masterpiece of Compression
An authoritative, concise, precise and well written narrative which enables the general reader to understand the reasons for and the main events of the conflict in a few hours of... Read more
Published on 28 Sep 2009 by D. J. Mosley
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