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leslielu67's review against another edition
5.0
Well-written accessible WWI book touching on all theaters, not just the Western Front. Excellent chapter chronicling the alliances, treaties and emotion that the assissination of the Archduke tested, and how the 6-week delay in action really set up the inevitable world war. The fall of the Russian monarchy and the rise of the soviet state and its struggles once Russia was out of the war was all facsinating - especially the bit about Czech soldiers commandeering the trans-Siberian railroad for passage EAST to Vladivostok in order to catch ships back to France in order to fight again. America's contribution was mentioned briefly; as a Yank I would have liked to hear more about the doughboys, but that is for another book I am sure. The importance of America's entry into the war and its ability to bring over millions of men was made clear by all the data of how depleted each side was, by 1917, of young men.
rallisaurus's review against another edition
2.0
Not a bad book, I'm just not very interested in military history.
rallisaurus's review against another edition
3.0
Pretty basic and mostly unimpressive military history. Not a big fan of military history as a general rule, but I had higher hopes for this book. I added a star because some of the illustrations were truly spectacular. Halfway between a textbook and coffee table book, not really successful as either. Still worth the $7 though.
wwatts1734's review against another edition
4.0
John Keegan is arguably the best military historian of the 20th Century, and this book is his go at the Great War. Overall this was a great book. Of course Keegan goes into the usual topics of the Great War - the political run up to the war, the various offensive strategies of the European powers, the offensive blitz of August 1914 and then the stalemate that presided over the Western front and most of the Eastern front for the remainder of the war. Trench warfare, the butchery of the machine gun and the artillery, the innovations of the aeroplane and the U Boat, all of this is standard fare in histories of the Great War.
What I particularly liked about this history was Keegan's treatment of non-standard topics. For example, Keegan spent a good amount of time discussing the Russian army. While most WWI histories skip over the Russian front between Tannenburg in August 1914 and the 1917 revolutions, Keegan delves into the Brusilov offensives, which were the relatively successful Russian campaigns against the Austrians and the Turks. He goes into Gallipoli and the horrible war planning that went into that campaign. He discusses the African campaign, which may have been the only theater of that war which followed the 19th century model of warfare. He talks about the Italian front, with its repeated yo-yo between the Germans and the Italians may have actually been a more frustrating effort than France. I was amazed at the extent of the German army's conquests during the war, so much so that the territory of Germany expanded over three fold between July 1914 and November 1918.
My only criticism of this history is a common criticism of Keegans works. The man is very technical and spends a tremendous amount of time discussing tactics, strategy, arms, ships and many of the minutiae of war. While this is fascinating to some, Keegan tends to miss the big picture, which is what it all was for, and the overarching consequences of the war.
Nevertheless, I really enjoyed this book. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in the First World War.
What I particularly liked about this history was Keegan's treatment of non-standard topics. For example, Keegan spent a good amount of time discussing the Russian army. While most WWI histories skip over the Russian front between Tannenburg in August 1914 and the 1917 revolutions, Keegan delves into the Brusilov offensives, which were the relatively successful Russian campaigns against the Austrians and the Turks. He goes into Gallipoli and the horrible war planning that went into that campaign. He discusses the African campaign, which may have been the only theater of that war which followed the 19th century model of warfare. He talks about the Italian front, with its repeated yo-yo between the Germans and the Italians may have actually been a more frustrating effort than France. I was amazed at the extent of the German army's conquests during the war, so much so that the territory of Germany expanded over three fold between July 1914 and November 1918.
My only criticism of this history is a common criticism of Keegans works. The man is very technical and spends a tremendous amount of time discussing tactics, strategy, arms, ships and many of the minutiae of war. While this is fascinating to some, Keegan tends to miss the big picture, which is what it all was for, and the overarching consequences of the war.
Nevertheless, I really enjoyed this book. I would highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in the First World War.
jhall45's review against another edition
5.0
Great Summary Work
An essential summary for understanding the outlines of the conflict which has resulted in so much discord in the past century. Keegan focuses on military aspects of the war, in particular major tactical or technological innovations employed to attempt to break the Western front stalemate.
An essential summary for understanding the outlines of the conflict which has resulted in so much discord in the past century. Keegan focuses on military aspects of the war, in particular major tactical or technological innovations employed to attempt to break the Western front stalemate.
binstonbirchill's review against another edition
4.0
I've only read a handful of books about World War I and this is the first that covered the entire war. Keegan does a great job of setting the stage for the conflict and laying out the war plans and expectations of each of the major powers. With only 427 pages of text it's impossible to give a detailed account of any one phase in the war but what is given helps put together the overall picture of the war. He jumps from the Western Front to the Eastern Front based on when there are lulls in the fighting (winter) and also covers the fighting on the periphery. At times it can be a bit heavy on statistics but some of the comparisons he draws from those statistics really illuminate just how terrible certain battles were. The book has a great mix of strategy, analysis, and personal accounts. Those looking for anything more specific in any area will want to delve deeper but for what this book was intended to be, a very solid overview of the war, it definitely hits the mark.
Side note: Maps are essential, good maps are a blessing. A few of the maps contained within were frustrating because they didn't have some of the locations in the text noted... I always find that disappointing. On the positive side there were a good amount of maps and they mostly did a good job of showing what needed to be shown.
Side note: Maps are essential, good maps are a blessing. A few of the maps contained within were frustrating because they didn't have some of the locations in the text noted... I always find that disappointing. On the positive side there were a good amount of maps and they mostly did a good job of showing what needed to be shown.
eoinmeen's review against another edition
3.0
Even though I enjoyed just enough of this book (mainly the beginning and end), it's more memorable for being a forgettable slog.