The First World War

Truly excellent book

This book was great for me, especially since I didn't know the causes of World War I as much as for WWII. Keegan gives a full explanation of the incident that triggered it and the context behind all of it. Then, he provides an excellent account of the war from the first days to the very end. He also tells us more about the most important men involved in it without forgetting to tell us about more than just the battles and their technical side. This book is a great overview of the conflict, its causes, its meaning and its consequences.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Excellent history

Mr. Keegan continues his string of excellent historical war accounts. This work is remarkable in many ways, but its greatest asset is the author's ability to distill the massively, complex history of the Great War into a single volume. His insights are often fresh and perceptive. I particularly enjoyed his personal histories and wish he'd included many more. And the questions raised on his last page are truly important. The work's few minor flaws need not dissuade neophyte or experienced readers. It suffers most seriously from a deficit of maps. A standard atlas remedies the problem, but I suspect Mr. Keegan overestimates American understanding of world geography. Civilian privations are given slight shift. And I believe Mr. Keegan's generosity toward Generals French, Haig and Joffre (at a minimum) is far too complimentary. They are responsible for the wholesale butchering of countless innocent soldiers, as the author so well documents. But their cavalier, unsympathetic dispositions are inexcusable, regardless of Mr. Keegan's attempts to explain of their points of view. Yet this history is very much worth reading. I followed with great interest Mr. Keegan's Near and Middle Eastern discourses. He proves himself a master of the history of sea warfare in his presentations of naval battles and technologies. He deftly positions Lenin, Hitler, Churchill, Hindenburg and many other important personalities in their appropriate roles. We are again in debt to Mr. Keegan for this concise, excellent book.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Like WW-I, Keegan is a long slog.

Started by trying to listen to the CD: Ugh!!! Worst I've ever heard!
Prebble is mush-mouthed. And what's worse, the content/context of the text he is reading is such that without the 15 maps included in the printed version, one is quickly lost among movements of obscurely-named divisions and armies advancing to and retreating from equally obscure villages, rivers and mountains.

So, alas, I was forced (by curiosity and a burning desire to find maps of what the hell Keegan's talking about) to the used bookstore.

There, having confirmed that, indeed, Keegan (or, more likely, his editor) had the sense/decency to include the aforementioned 15 maps in the book, I purchased a copy.

Yeah, Keegan covers the whole four years, including the basic events which led to its unnecessary start. But, alas, I believe that many, many authors have done so more logically, cogently and readably: See Barbara Tuchman's "The Guns of August" and, for the battles on the Gallipoli peninsula (and the key to success/failure, the sea-battles in the Dardanelles and Sea of Marmara -- facets which Keegan almost completely ignores), see Alan Moorehead's "Gallipoli".

Then there is Keegan's voice, which is often confusing, with verbs, adverbs, and modifying phrases reversed in order or distantly removed from their object in long, convoluted sentences not familiar to the ear expecting standard English. Sentences more reminiscent of Faulkner than of Hemingway. Thus, Keegan's points, perhaps critical to the outcome of a given action or subsequent reaction, are often obscurely or overly referenced and conditioned, though apparently not intended to be under-emphasized, through the insertion of names, places, dates, ground conditions, weather, preceding events, or other numerous and relevent (or not) facts, are lost.

If you like that previous sentence, you'll love Keegan!

I speculate that Keegan dictated the text, and that it was only lightly edited. On several occasions, facts are repeated verbatim three or four pages apart. His references to direction - north, south, east and west - and to rivers, towns or other landmarks are often inconsistent with those implied by the maps. Are the maps wrong? Is Keegan picturing a battle in his mind which does not match reality?

I got through it. But as a result, I am convinced that there was a whole lot more to (and perhaps a whole lot different than) World War I than Keegan tells us -- or perhaps than he knows.

--- gwg

Generally good, but a little dry

I listen to a lot of audio books; this is the fastest narrated one I have yet heard. The speed was less than ideal for the complex subject material, which tended to the dry side with its details of military maneuvers. The book is recommended more for those who specialize in military history, especially strategy and tactics, than it is for the general public.

Keegan is a master

The First World War does not seem to demand the attention as does the second. A book such as this puts them together in the proper context. The Great War as the precursor to the Second World War. Keegan decribes the theaters of operations, the complex personalities, and the poltics in enough detail to understand the terrible conflict. He may be the greatest living historian and this may be his most impressive work to date.

Superior Historical Methods

Keegan again proves himself one of the world's finest military historians. His methods are virtually flawless, and the portrait he paints of the first war is so vivid in its sheer foolishness and desperation that the reader is almost drawn to tears by the conclusion. A must read for any student of military history, serious or casual.

The Book Made Me Want to Know More

The greatest compliment that I can give this book is that it made me want to read more about the causes of the Great War, and how it was fought. It is a wonderful introduction for anyone even slightly interested in one of the great defining events of the last century. Hopefully it will effect others the way it did me, and lead them to explore other perspectives of this horrible and destructive war. In understanding what and how this happened, perhaps we can understand how to avoid such man-made catastrophies in the future

Good History on WWI

Keegan does a great job providing the background events leading up to the war as well as a detailed history of the war's first 2 years. Book could use a little more detail re events of 1917-18 and American involvement in the war.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.

No text was provided for this review.