Reviews (10)

The Best of the Genre
I have 42 books on WW1 in my library, including most of the well known historian's books. This is absolutely the best, clearest, most lucid and comprehensive one I have read. If you are looking for one book to learn about WW1, this is the one.

A World Undone
In less than 700 pages Mr. Meyer summarized this catrostrophic event byincorporatingcritical background ambitions and blunders which enables the reader to have a satisfactory overview of the entire event. Great job.

All histories should be this good
Absolutely outstanding.
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Subjects:  1. Europe - General    2. Europe - History    3. History    4. History - Military / War    5. Military    6. Military - World War I    7. World War I    8. World War, 1914-1918    9. History / General   

Reviews (1)

The Cost of Ethnic Cleansing
This is the best book I have read on the tragic Greek-Turkish "population exchange" of the 1920s. I found the book remarkable for several reasons: One is its organization. Chapters alternate between diplomatic history and human suffering stories, many of them based on interviews with survivors of that era. This has a powerful effect on the reader who sees how people were dying while "diplomats talked." Another is its fairness in discussing the responsibilities of each side. (The official Greek and Turkish positions place all the blame on the other side.) And finally the coverage of the suffering of the Muslims that were sent from Greece to Turkey as part of the "exchange." As the books states on p. 161 "In most cases, the fate of these migrants was not as terrible as that of the Anatolian Christians who fled either in the heat of war, or as a result of forced marches followed by forced embarkations on ships riddled with disease; but the Muslim exodus was bad enough."
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Subjects:  1. Emigration & Immigration    2. Europe - Greece    3. History    4. History - General History    5. History: World    6. Middle East - Turkey    7. Military - World War I    8. Modern - 20th Century    9. History / Modern / 20th Century   

Reviews (133)

Amateur Hour
I was pleasantly surprised by the beginning of the novel: this journey of Allesandro Guiliani and his new sidekick Nicolo across the Italian piedmont reminded me of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. There were a few oddities in the style and descriptions, but nothing that really bothered me. Then I came across this sentence:
Long time favorite
I read this book over 20 years ago, and recently re-read it.
Simply the most fantastic book I've ever read.
To me, this book is the epitome of literature. On every level, it fascinates and moves the reader: the prose is gorgeous and prolific, weaving description and philosophy so that the entire book sounds like a poem and leaves impressions in the mind like works of art. When Helprin writes of Italy, you can see the blazes of orange and green, you can feel the heat of Rome and the cracking ice of the Alps, and you begin to feel the nostalgia and patriotism of the main character himself, Alessandro Giuliani. Somehow, he is a genius, a philosopher, an artist, a hero, and a romantic, but the reader never feels overwhelmed by his achievements and annoyed by his perfections, because he is such an intensely real, incredibly profound, and moving personality that one cannot help but love him. Indeed, as the book moves from pre-war gardens and parties, humorous anecdotes and dinners with empresses to the stale, festering misery that is war, the reader learns to cling to Alessandro as the only way to stay sane as the world itself appears to degenerate with each page. Alessandro is the most magnificent character I have ever met, because he faces the epitomization of every horror and tragedy in the world with a stoic determination to cling to the good--he embodies all the hope, goodness, and beauty in the world that is blotted out by war and yet survives to mould the next generation, and to ensure the survival of humanity. Yes, it is a book of war that will make you cringe, cry, and turn away in disgust, but I promise that, somehow, at the end of the book you will emerge with a strange optimism, feeling refreshed and renewed. It has the humor, lunacy, and cynicism of Catch-22 while retaining a higher purpose and somehow not appearing anti-war; It has the flow and dream-like, mythical quality of the Odyssey without exhausting or losing the reader; It has the agonizing yet beautiful qualities of war-poetry without the deadening hatred and cynicism; It has the beauty and optimism of a love story without appearing naive. It leaves one with the same sort of feelings as movies like Gladiator and Braveheart--a faith in great men, in God, and, above all, in the omnipotence of love as the saving grace of mankind. Helprin has given us war through the eyes of a philosopher of aesthetics--he has given us war woven with art, poetry, and beauty. To me, that is pure genius. This book is an inspiration, as Helprin writes through Alessandro, to never live "by halves. You must give everything you have. You must love unto exhaustion, work unto exhaustion, and walk unto exhaustion. People continually expose their souls to mortal danger in imagining that they are free of it, when, indeed, the only mortal danger for the spirit is to remain too long without it. The world is made of fire." ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Bildungsromane    2. Fiction    3. Fiction - General    4. General    5. Helprin, Mark - Prose & Criticism    6. Italy    7. Older men    8. Fiction / General    9. Warfare & Defence    10. World history: First World War   

Reviews (94)

brilliant
After four years of unprecedented slaughter, victors and supplicants gathered in Paris in 1919 to determine a peace that would truly `end all wars.' Wilson's wildly popular Fourteen Points promised fair and open redress of grievances, and a world born anew under a League of Nations. Delegates from nearly every point on the globe were drawn to present their case in a process that took six months.
To understand the present you must understand the past.
Macmillan paints a clear picture of how all the hopes that were envisaged for the Paris Peace Conference --self determination, open door diplomacy, and a new world order based on genuine cooperation of nations-- never came to pass. Instead what happened was more of the same old closed-door deals, redrawing of of borders, and reshuffling of people without their consent--all of which were responsible for the war in the first place.
Excellent
This is an excellent book.The writer expresses herself exstrodinarily well and she has great command of the material.The fact that she is the great grandaughter of Lloyd Georgehelps to make her observations based on believable "reality" not hypothetical fantasy. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. (1919-1920)    2. Ancient - General    3. History    4. History - Military / War    5. Military    6. Military - World War I    7. Paris Peace Conference    8. Peace    9. Treaties And Alliances    10. World - General    11. World War I    12. World War, 1914-1918    13. History / Military / World War I    14. Reading Group Guide   

Subjects:  1. Science/Mathematics   

Reviews (8)

A lost spirit

An Inquiry into the Culture of Leadership
First off, this is a great book and I agree with the other reviewers that it is a great read.Yes, it does follow the Yale flyers from crew races in Connecticut to the skies over the English Channel and Belgium in World War I.And yes, there are great descriptions of courage, heroism and loss.But to me there are two things that set this book apart.One, Wortman is a great writer.It is the mark of any really good book of history when the author can put you there, in a wholly different time and place, and make you feel that you know it, know the people and know the mores of the period.Wortman does this well, even down to getting the slang of the young Yalies.One cannot soon forget the importance of having "sand" or the feeling of flying over the trenches in Flanders on a cold dawn patrol.With due deference to Charles Schulz and Snoopy, there was a bit more to it than climbing onto the roof of your doghouse.And two, by opening up to us the world of the early nineteen hundreds, Wortman illuminates how these privileged young men, and the entire society of which they were a part, understood the responsibilities of leadership.For better or worse than the culture of our own time, and without any romanticism a la Snoopy and the Red Baron, many of these very rich young men felt the personal responsibility to take part and to lead -- and to do it from the forward and dangerous position.One cannot read this book without clearly contrasting the Yale flyers' attitudes and actions from those of many of today's most important political leaders in their formative years.Again, without having to surrender to any of the Band of Brothers romanticism, "The Millionaire's Unit" reminds us that our present day's attitudes towards leadership are not the only ones that Americans have always held.

One of those 'must read' books!
A remarkable story! In 1916 a group of extraordinary Yale class leaders, who happened also to be millionaire athletes, organized an aviation unit.These were heroic, very patriotic young men.Wortman makes you feel as if you're in the air flying with them. It's a great read. Don't miss it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Military - World War I    2. History - Military / War    3. World War I    4. Military - Aviation    5. Europe    6. European history: First World War    7. First World War, 1914-1918    8. USA    9. Air Forces    10. History    11. Military   

Reviews (72)

"A Big War and It Will Start In The East"
Probably, along with The Guns of August, one of the best books
Five Stars Are Not Enough!
Initially, I was skeptical about reading Robert Massie's "Dreadnought:Britain, Germany, and the Coming of the Great War".This 1992 paperback has 1008 pages!However, after considering its highly charged reviews at [...] I realized its reading to be inevitable.(I set aside a month and cracked it open.)
Positively brilliant...You can't put it down
This book is about FAR more than a ship.Among the many great historical works I've read, this one ranks close to the top because of its remarkable detail and storytelling.You can't put the book down; you just want to get to the next page.Massie fully delves into the beginnings of the British-German rivalry, but on more than just a naval level.This book involves politics, imperialism, and the other makings of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and is a must-read for anyone interested in this period of history and specifically for those who want to further understand why the First World War occurred. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1859-1941    2. Causes    3. German Emperor,    4. History: World    5. II,    6. William    7. World War I    8. World War, 1914-1918    9. Edward    10. History / General   

Reviews (5)

The Somme - compelling WWI read
Martin Gilbert is the official biographer for Churchill so when I saw this title, I knew it would be thoroughly researched and well written.The Great War really hasn't had the level of coverage for us here (USA) as subsequent conflicts, WWII and Vietnam if not Korea.Sheer manpower loss was on a scale not previously encountered.The horror of trench warfare vividly is detailed, in the narrative and in letters from soldiers at the front.We all know Pershing and the doughboys in 1918 but the preceeding 3 and a half years saw devastating combat losses.

Very well written. Another sucess for Mr Gilbert
The new book on the Somme offensive is written in a most readable style. Mr Gilbert has done some extensive research and travel for this one. The book encompasses not just the first bloody day of the Somme battle in 1916, but the entire, sprawling campaign, its commanders and infantrymen. Often brutal, the pages are filled with interesting letters written by the men in the trenches and command posts. The book also devotes some detail on the German side of the battle with some further interesting facts about how they fought, their trench defenses.
"There was a time when Death and I
Came face to face together
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Subjects:  1. History    2. History - Military / War    3. History: World    4. Military - Other    5. Military - World War I    6. Somme, 1st Battle of the, France, 1916    7. Western Europe - General    8. History / Europe / Western   

Editorial Review

If someone less distinguished than Jesus College, Oxford, fellow Niall Ferguson had written Read more

Reviews (50)

Brilliant and disturbing
For the sheer audacity and brilliance of his principle thesis, this volume has a place in historical studies.Unlike most other historians, who use the myriad 'facts' about the war to support a simplistic theory of 'good' vs 'evil'[just as the average Joe is into moral absolutes] --- the conclusion of Ferguson's breathtaking analysis can hardly be argued with: that the failure of England, France & the US to realize that the relatively new nation of Germany would be, at steady state, the dominant power on the continent --- and thus, what we call WWI AND WWII could have been averted.Of course, today's 'balance-of-power in the status quo' advocates will not learn much, if anything, from this brilliant book.The anointed moral superior (eg the US) is entitled to dominate.The truth: the US nor any other country is a morally superior agent.

A different look at WWI
Niall Ferguson is known to stir the pot on touchy subjects and Pity of War does not disappoint.Filled with statistics and theories, Ferguson gives us his view of why the Allies won and Germany lost.This question has produced heated debates ranging from ludicrous (John Mosier and Fritz Fischer) to well thought out and researched (Hew Strachan and John Keegan).Ferguson falls somewhere in the middle by providing some good arguments such as Britain failed to provide the pivotal advantage needed to end the war despite their superior economy because the workforce was sent to fight.Another point made is why Germany failed to win despite having a vastly superior army.Ferguson believes the failure to pursue their political goals via force of the military removed any clear objective to obtain and relegated the war to senseless violence. Due to the lack of objectives, the war was extended needlessly and subsequently lowered the morale of the soldiers as was seen on both sides in the later years.
Interesting Arguments Well Presented
Niall Ferguson is a pretty amazing writer, a great researcher, and an interesting thinker. I'm not going to try to argue whether or not the case he represents is right or wrong. I suspect it's as much right as wrong. The interesting part is how well he presents a different way of thinking about what happened to the British Empire, and by pretty immediate extension, the world at the start of the 20th century. The book can get overwhelming in the economic details and occasionally the writers quoted, at length, are a bit dull, especially when compared to Mr. Ferguson. However, the read is engaging and informative and it will honestly leave you thinking anew about the causes and results of the Great War. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Eastern Europe - General    3. Great Britain    4. History    5. History - Military / War    6. History: World    7. Military - World War I    8. World War, 1914-1918   

Subjects:  1. Battlefields    2. Campaigns    3. Europe - General    4. Guidebooks    5. History    6. Military    7. Military - World War I    8. Museums, Tours, Points of Interest    9. Travel - Foreign    10. Western Front    11. World War, 1914-1918    12. Battles & campaigns    13. Europe    14. European history: First World War    15. First World War, 1914-1918    16. History / Military / World War I    17. Travel & holiday guides   

Editorial Review

Despite the avalanche of books written about the First World War in recent years, there have been comparatively few books that deliver a comprehensive account of the war and its campaigns from start to finish. Read more

Reviews (194)

The Military History of WWI
Being a John Keegan fanand having a long-standing interest in WWI, I was thrilled when I first heard this book was published and I ran out and got a copy immediately. I was not disappointed. All I could think to say is, Mr. Keegan brings his formidable guns to bear on an already thoroughly analyzed topic.His skills as a writer and military historian make this one of the premier books on the subject.The maps are superb and complement the text perfectly. The photos and illustrations place faces on names and give a sense of characters involved.It lacks the popularity and readability of Mrs. Tuchman's _Guns of August_ but provides more of a view from the trenches and maprooms making a great work of military history on the war.A very worthy piece of work on the topic.

The First World War
Having recently read Barbara Tuchman's The Guns of August,I wanted to further my education on this period in history. John Keegan's overview of the military side of the Great War is well done, though I still felt like I needed to know more after finishing the book. Keegan's narrative, including the beginnings of and the slide into a continental, eventually a global war, is expertly woven. His book is primarily focused on the military aspects of the war, which is essential, but by focusing on just that, one doesn't get as complete a picture. This isn't the author's fault; I just prefer more inclusive studies of such wide reaching events as World War I.
Great Overview of World War I
I think this simply is a great book about the Great War. Reading this book gives you a broad understanding of the First World War, the main events and battles, and the course of the war on each of the fronts without excessive detail. Some might wish for more detail on particular aspects of the war, but there are numerous other books on virtually every battle and Keegan simply couldn't have written any more detail and maintained a managable general history of the war.
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Subjects:  1. History    2. History - Military / War    3. History: World    4. Military - World War I    5. World War, 1914-1918    6. History / Military / World War I   

Reviews (8)

Derivative Telling of an Unusual Incident
These days, with most people being unable to name their own state capital or the last five presidents, our collective grasp on history has become weak. Few, then, can be expected to know much about World War I, but even military buffs might not be aware of the campaigns that took place in Africa.
Bungling Off to War
For history buffs, this is a potentially enjoyable yarn about a forgotten little episode from the past, but in a poorly constructed book. Giles Foden covers the odd story of a World War I naval campaign on Lake Tanganyika in East Africa, as old colonial intrigues between the Germans and English spilled over into the Great War, and Africa became a very remote battleground between the imperial powers. Mimi and Toutou were two specially-made motorboats – which were built in England to be small and fast, as secret weapons against the large German warships that patrolled the lake. Under the command of the eccentric and delusional Geoffrey Spicer-Simson, a motley crew of conscripts hauled the two boats by rail and river, and on foot, all the way from South Africa in a quest that lasted several months. They finally engaged the Germans in a naval lake battle that had very little strategic significance, especially considering the logistical nightmare of setting up the scene.
If only the book floated as well as the vessels ...
Giles Foden's "Mimi and Toutou's Big Adventure" is an insightful look at the efforts of British forces to reclaim dominance on Lake Tanganyika in Central East Africa during World War I.While the storyline has an incredible amount of potential, the final product didn't really live up to my expectations. In a text that focused heavily on the development of historical characters as opposed to details of the vessels and military engagements, I found the characters somewhat shallow, as if the author had turned them into "caricatures."The story itself was somewhat anti-climactic, but that remains for the reader to discover.However, I will comment that the last several chapters of the text include a discussion of the production of the "African Queen," as well the author's journey on one of the German vessels serving on the lake and attempt to interview African locals. These chapters came across as an attempt to make a short story ... long.
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Subjects:  1. Africa - General    2. Africa - History    3. Campaigns    4. German East Africa    5. History    6. History - Military / War    7. History: World    8. Military - Naval    9. Military - World War I    10. Mimi (Gunboat)    11. Tanganyika, Lake    12. World War I    13. World War, 1914-1918    14. History / Africa   

Reviews (4)

Doughboy Good Reading
I enjoyed this account of Al Ettinger's travels with the 69th infantry during WWI.It's interesting to find that he held so much detail in his mind so many years after the events, and after many years of not talking about it- finally opens up and recounts everything in such great specificity.I also appreciated that the accounts were checked out by his son in such detail to verify specifics before publishing- after all, no one's memory is perfect.The book is interleaved with historical maps and summaries of allied strategy, giving the reader a yardstick as to where the events fit in history.I really got a good feel for the deep sense of camaraderie that Ettinger developed with the people there in the ranks, and his heroes, especially concerning Father Patrick Duffy, a guy anyone would want to know in whatever place in history that he or she was born in.The only shortcoming of the book (and it is slight) is that it leaves out the outcome of Lt. Quirt (a pseudonym) in the epilogue.Great reading.

Above-average memoirs.
Private Ettinger, in his brief military career, managed to experience thebattle of the Argonne Forest,survive four close shell bursts, a personalstrafing by a German pilot, and some spectacular crasheson hisdispatch-rider motorcycle, to provide us with one of the most engagingmemoirs of theAmerican Expiditionary Forces. "There ought to be more books like this one."(Wash. Times)
"It is enthralling and difficult to put down before completion." --Military Images Read more

Subjects:  1. 1900-1984    2. Biography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Ettinger, Albert M.,    5. History - Military / War    6. Infantry    7. Military    8. Military - General    9. Military - World War I    10. New York (State)    11. Personal narratives    12. Personal narratives, American    13. Soldiers    14. United States    15. World War, 1914-1918    16. Ettinger, Albert M   

Subjects:  1. Aviation - History    2. History    3. Military    4. Military - Aviation    5. Military - World War I    6. Transportation   

Features

• Illustrated

Reviews (4)

Never Purchase this Book!
I had to buy this book for a history seminar in college, and let me tell you, it is a major waste of paper.The Author tries to cover every single event that happened in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia over a span of 134 years.In order to do this, most things are given a one or two sentence description.For example, in high school we learned about the Dreyfuss Affair, but Bayly only mentions that it occured.He expects that we can remember all of this stuff from our previous history classes.I suppose that this would be a good book for people who really enjoy history, but all it does is put my entire class to sleep whenever we have a reading assignment in it.In conclusion, your money would be better spent if you just set fire to it.

Ho-hum, History is complex.
Why would you like this book? If you already knew a ton about history and were looking for new comparative methods of evaluating the modern world. There's certainly an interesting argument set forth by Bayly, but I remain unconvinced that his methods of documentation (reliance on secondary sources and a self-avowed lack of references) and his choice of material (severe neglect of certain portions of the world) should permit this book to be the academic blockbuster it has been claimed.
Superb
This is the best book I have read on the history of globalization. It is superb. It is well written. It is sweeping in its vision. And the scholarship that undergirds the book is remarkable. Bayly has read widely in disparate fields like African, Chinese, Mughal, and British history, nationalism, economic development, the state, military history, and globalization.
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Subjects:  1. 18th century    2. 19th century    3. 20th century    4. History    5. History - General History    6. History, Modern    7. History: World    8. Modern - 18th Century    9. Modern - 19th Century    10. Revolutions    11. World - General    12. GLOBALIZATION    13. HISTORY, MODERN_19TH CENTURY    14. HISTORY, MODERN_20TH CENTURY    15. History / Modern / 19th Century    16. World history: First World War    17. World history: c 1750 to c 1900    18. c 1700 to c 1800    19. c 1800 to c 1900    20. c 1900 - c 1914   

Reviews (133)

War without end...
Mrs. Tuchman's best known work is a wonderful study that reads like a novel. Her skills as a communicator and depth of knowledge and analysis on her subject are always keystones to her work. There are other fine books on the first world war but if you want the best and most thorough overview, you will want this one.Not only does Mrs. Tuchman cover aspects of how it began and progressed but also the general malaise that followed and continued to this very day.Nothing explains the modern world without the context of the first great war that forever changed it at the turn of the 20th century. In the end, you realize that the war solved nothing and the problems on which it was based were only irritated and not eliminated - leading to more war ever since.This is the book that I first came to appreciate Mrs. Tuchman's work and will remain one of my favorites.

Pure Propaganda
This book is little more than recycled propaganda from about 1915.But it is viciously anti-German and that is enough to make it a "classic".Truly one of the great hate books of all time.Germanophobia sells,always has and probably always will.Something for you aspiring historians to keep in mind.
DON'T READ!!! HORRIBLE BOOK!!!!!!!
The people on this review are crazy. This book is one of the worst books I have ever read. It was ridiculously stupid, and I hated it. It was assigned to me by my AP European History teacher for summer work, but I despised it. I tend to like books teachers require you to read, like the other book she required--All Quiet on the Western Front. I absolutely loved it.
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Subjects:  1. Campaigns    2. History    3. History - Military / War    4. Military    5. Military - World War I    6. Modern - 20th Century    7. Reference    8. Western Front    9. World War, 1914-1918    10. History / Military / World War I   

Reviews (5)

Very good book
This book combines a look at the WW I battlefield with events on the German homefront very well. Chickering focuses on the homefront and details very well the reaction to mobilization and the events of the war, as well as the defeat. One of the best chapters of the book is on the myth of the stab in the back. This book really is a necessary read if one also wants to understand the "other half" of the European Civil War, WW II.

Central Powers
As a self taught historian of The Great War, I think this book is excellent.

A Model of Its Kind
Imperial Germany and the Great War is a masterful combination of the political, social, and cultural history of the war with the relevant military events. Iknow of no single book that covers so much territory in so little space. Anyone interested in the what was going on behind the lines will find the answers here! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - General    2. Europe - Germany    3. Germany    4. History    5. History - General History    6. History - Military / War    7. History: World    8. Military - World War I    9. Social aspects    10. War and sociecty    11. War and society    12. World War, 1914-1918    13. European history: from c 1900 -    14. First World War, 1914-1918    15. History / Europe / General   

Reviews (26)

The E-Mail That Created World War I
History wasn't supposed to be this readable in 1958, but when Barbara Tuchman published "The Zimmermann Telegram" it was not only an advancement of scholarship about the roots of World War I but a terrific example of how real life could work better than fiction when in the right hands.