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The Lost History of 1914: Reconsidering the Year the Great War Began
by
Jack Beatty
In The Lost History of 1914, Jack Beatty offers a highly original view of World War I, testing against fresh evidence the long-dominant assumption that it was inevitable. "Most books set in 1914 map the path leading to war," Beatty writes. "This one maps the multiple paths that led away from it."
Chronicling largely forgotten events faced by each of the belligerent countrie...more
Chronicling largely forgotten events faced by each of the belligerent countrie...more
Hardcover, 400 pages
Published
February 14th 2012
by Walker & Company
(first published January 1st 2012)
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We never studied WWI when I was in high school and since I wasn't a history major in college, I never learned anything about it. Once I started reading and studying the labor movement at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century in America, I got interested. Of course, there's All Quiet on the Western Frontier for the soldier's point of view and there are numerous histories as well. I saw a review on this one and decided to pick it up. I love it! It deals more with the psychology of...more
Most people learn that the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was the spark that ignited World War I, and that, because of interlocking military alliances, the war was inevitable even without that specific immediate cause. However, in The Lost History of 1914, Jack Beatty challenges the theory of the war’s inevitability. Countries are not monolithic, and Beatty shows that there were statesmen around in 1914 who might have avoided war. He writes, “Regarding war as improbable…lea...more
Chronicling largely forgotten events faced by each of the belligerent countries in the months before the war started in August, Beatty shows how any one of them-a possible military coup in Germany; an imminent civil war in Britain; the murder trial of the wife of the likely next premier of France, who sought détente with Germany-might have derailed the war or brought it to a different end. In Beatty's hands, these stories open into epiphanies of national character, and offer dramatic portraits o...more
For some reason feel compelled to click on those rating stars...3.5?
The sentence structure makes me want to bang my head, but the content of this book is really worth the effort. Jack Beatty is one of my favorite radio pundits (local NPR station) and his knowledge seems unlimited. Thank you, Jack Beatty, for this important education.
I love books that investigate particular eras of history by looking through a wide lens on a focused subject. Political decisions, influential people, and interacti...more
The sentence structure makes me want to bang my head, but the content of this book is really worth the effort. Jack Beatty is one of my favorite radio pundits (local NPR station) and his knowledge seems unlimited. Thank you, Jack Beatty, for this important education.
I love books that investigate particular eras of history by looking through a wide lens on a focused subject. Political decisions, influential people, and interacti...more
The illustrations are significant inclusions.
Acknowledgments were given to those who helped edit and provide clarity "for improving, aggregately, nearly every page of this book". It's scary to think what the condition of the text would have been without these folks because there were so many edits and needs for clarity that escaped them to make the book almost unreadable/annoying reading at times. For example:
Page 249
"The cult of the offensive belongs to 19194's (trust the author meant 1914) los...more
Acknowledgments were given to those who helped edit and provide clarity "for improving, aggregately, nearly every page of this book". It's scary to think what the condition of the text would have been without these folks because there were so many edits and needs for clarity that escaped them to make the book almost unreadable/annoying reading at times. For example:
Page 249
"The cult of the offensive belongs to 19194's (trust the author meant 1914) los...more
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Not really just about 1914, the book is about the history of the participant countries of WWI leading up to 1914, and why each one easily could have been uninvolved in the war, or unable to participate in beginning it. I learned a ton about European and US history. Usually, books don't focus on the episodes of turmoil of countries that don't lead to war.
The main part of the book is dedicated to a single country per chapter, and works well.
The last three chapters cover the start of the war, and...more
The main part of the book is dedicated to a single country per chapter, and works well.
The last three chapters cover the start of the war, and...more
I'd recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about the causes of the first World War. Beatty focuses on some of the internal issues behind the collapse of international relations, so his point of view is different from many works on the subject. Most significantly, he challenges the mindset of many historians that the coming of the war was somehow inevitable, that hostilities would have broken out 'sooner or later'. (In that way, his view is similar to Richard Evans' three volume hi...more
Excellent and original analysis of the path to WWI, the seminal event of the 20th century. Editing errors merit significant reduction in the rating-one hopes the next edition will correct them and the many insights presented will reach a wide audience. The portrayal of the malign influence of Franz Josef was particularly interesting and convincing.Highly recommended with reservations due to editing.
I found the prose in this book unreadable. Had to stop after about 25 pages, even though I am very interested in the subject matter. A real shame. It reads almost as if it had been dictated and not edited. Also, there is a huge editing error in the preface / introduction where several paragraphs are repeated verbatim. Very odd.
Many insights into the real or perceived causes of the war; personalities; events; and ultimate outcome leading to WW 11.
Good writing style, reads like popular history. None of that heavy jargon.
Nice overview, no surprises. Prose was comically baroque. Made it to print having never seen a copy editor.
Words, archaic English words, archaic French words, names, nicknames, titles all used interchangeably made this a slow read. Some good factoids and perspective.
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