The First World War: A Complete History

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The First World War: A Complete History (Second Edition) Pub. Date: 3/1/2004 Publisher: Holt, Henry & Company, Inc.

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The First World War: A Complete History (1st Owl Book Edition) Pub. Date: 5/15/1996 Publisher: Holt, Henry & Company, Inc.
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First World War: A Complete History Pub. Date: 10/4/1994 Publisher: Holt, Henry & Company, Inc.

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Overview

The acclaimed British historian offers a majestic, single-volume work incorporating all major fronts-domestic, diplomatic, military-for "a stunning achievement of research and storytelling"
(Publishers Weekly)

It was to be the war to end all wars, and it began at 11:15 on the morning of June 28, 1914, in an outpost of the Austro-Hungarian Empire called Sarajevo. It would end officially almost five years later. Unofficially, it has never ended: the horrors we live with today were born in the First World War.
It left millions-civilians and soldiers-maimed or dead. And it left us with new technologies of death: tanks, planes, and submarines; reliable rapid-fire machine guns and field artillery; poison gas and chemical warfare. It introduced us to U-boat packs and strategic bombing, to unrestricted war on civilians and mistreatment of prisoners. Most of all, it changed our world. In its wake, empires toppled, monarchies fell, whole populations lost their national identities as political systems, and geographic boundaries were realigned. Instabilities were institutionalized, enmities enshrined. And the social order shifted seismically. Manners, mores, codes of behavior; literature and the arts; education and class distinctions-all underwent a vast sea change. And in all these ways, the twentieth century can be said to have been born on the morning of June 28, 1914.

"One of the first books that anyone should read in beginning to try to understand this war and this century."
-The New York Times Book Review (cover)

"All the ways Mr. Gilbert's The First World War brings the conflict home to people at the end of the twentieth century render it one of the first books that anyone should read in beginning to try to understand this war and this century."--John Milton Cooper, Jr., The New York Times Book Review. 80 photos. 31 maps.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

Gilbert's (The Second World War) majestic opus covers WWI on all major fronts-domestic, diplomatic, military-as well as such bloody preludes as the Armenian massacre of 1915. He describes the introduction of new instruments of war like the submarine, airplane, tank, machine gun and poison gas, explaining how each was employed in great military confrontations such as Verdun and Jutland. He recounts the arrival of the American contingent (British and French brass tended at first to regard them as rabble) and Gen. John J. Pershing's struggle to prevent U.S. troops from being fed piecemeal into the maelstrom of the western front. Gilbert includes a large amount of contemporary war poetry and doggerel, which conveys the tragedy of the 1914-1918 conflict. On the whole, the author presents WWI from the human perspective, with emphasis on the grisliness and sheer waste of it. His account of the post-Armistice efforts of the international War Graves Commission starkly communicates the epic scale of the slaughter. By the distinguished biographer of Winston Churchill, this is a stunning achievement of research and storytelling on the war to end all wars. Illustrations. (Nov.)

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From The Critics

Successfully using a blend of contemporary accounts and overview narrative, Gilbert (The Churchill War Papers, LJ 5/1/93) has produced a readable, one-volume account of the Great War. The impact of new technologies and tactics on humankind is best illustrated by the author's portrayal of the individual suffering of the generation lost in the conflict. The deaths of the sons and sons-in-law of political and military leaders from all sides exemplifies the extent and tragedy of the loss. The effect of the war on future leaders such as Hitler, Himmler, Churchill, and De Gaulle is shown through their experiences in this war. Profusely illustrated and containing 50 maps, this book is a fine companion volume to the author's The Second World War (Holt, 1989). Recommended for all collections.-David Lee Poremba, Detroit P.L.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780805076172
Publisher: Holt, Henry & Company, Inc.
Publication date: 3/1/2004
Edition description: Second Edition
Edition number: 2
Pages: 688
Sales rank: 175,322
Product dimensions: 6.13 (w) x 9.20 (h) x 1.13 (d)

Meet the Author

Sir Martin Gilbert was knighted in 1995 "for services to British history and international relations." Among his many books are The Righteous (0-8050-6260-2), The Holocaust (0-8050-0348-7), The Day the War Ended (0-8050-4735-2), and Churchill: A Life (0-8050-2396-8). He lives in London, England.

	List of maps
	List of illustrations
	Introduction
	Acknowledgements
1	Prelude to war	1
2	'Wild with joy'	16
3	The Opening struggle	35
4	From Mons to the Marne	55
5	Digging in: the start of trench warfare	78
6	Towards the first Christmas: 'mud and slime and vermin'	100
7	Stalemate and the search for breakthroughs	114
8	The Gallipoli landings	146
9	The Entente in danger	154
10	The Central Powers in the ascendant	176
11	The continuing failure of the Entente	196
12	'This war will end at Verdun'	224
13	'Europe is mad. The world is mad.'	244
14	The Battle of the Somme: 'It is going to be a bloody holocaust'	258
15	War on every front	282
16	The intensification of the war	301
17	War, desertion, mutiny	324
18	Stalemate in the west, turmoil in the east	343
19	Battle at Passchendaele; Revolution in Russia	363
20	The terms of war and peace	375
21	The Central Powers on the verge of triumph	393
22	Germany's last great onslaught	406
23	'The battle, the battle, nothing else counts'	416
24	The Allied counter-attack	431
25	The turn of the tide	454
26	The collapse of the Central Powers	473
27	The final armistice	497
28	Peacemaking and remembrance	505
29	'.... to the memory of that great company'	525
	Bibliography	544
	Maps	555
	Index	583

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Anonymous

Posted July 17, 2008

A fine historical work.

Gilbert's detailed, chronological survey of World War I should be dubbed the 'cornerstone' of works regarding this subject. The author covers all aspects of the war which caused an estimated 9 million military and 5 million civilian deaths. Most Europeans expected the war to be of short duration and many mistakenly looked forward to participating in it. These naive attitudes changed by the wars end, as death, chaos, and mans inhumanity toward man caused many peoples to regret the decisions that contributed to such catastrophic worldwide loses. The book is 573 pages with additional pictures and maps. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and highly recommend it to anyone interested in history.

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Anonymous

Posted January 16, 2003

Awesome History of WWI

This book has it all. The author is thoroughly engrossed in this topic and you benefit. It's comprehensive coverage includes many personal accounts from soldiers, leaders and the like. It is structured in a strictly chronological fashion providing a detailed account of the progress of the war. If you want to understand this war and what happened, this is the book. The numerous footnotes and the extensive bibliography make you appreciate the amazing amount of work the author went through to distill it all into one book.

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Posted July 3, 2010

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The First World War: A Complete History

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All Available Formats + Editions

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Overview

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

From The Critics

Product Details

Meet the Author

Table of Contents

Rating Distribution

A fine historical work.

Awesome History of WWI