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First World War
A New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 1994
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 W...more
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 1994
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 W...more
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It’s 543 pages of one damned thing after another. An oddly compelling way to do history: no real attempt to make sense of anything in terms of strategy or economics or politics; just a list of events mostly told via individual recollections. Gilbert troubles to quote a lot of poems throughout the text, mostly English war poets of the time. Most of this verse is quite bad (I’ve always thought), but given the context and the horror, it is oddly moving. Perhaps this is the best way to read thi...more
This very long work is essentially a chronology of the war, from the rapid escalation of tension before August 1914 to the problems of armistice in 1918 and how they affected state relations in the 1930s. Gilbert, the official biographer of Churchill, brings home at many points the reality of the 9 million military dead of WWI through use of poems, quotes and letters written home by the men who died, as well as graphic recollections by nurses who served at the front (one image that stays with m...more
9 million soldiers, sailors, and airmen were killed in WW1, along with about 5 million civilians. Rudyard Kipling’s only son was killed at Ypres. Anthony Eden’s son was killed in WW2, and his brother killed in action in WW1 at the Battle of Jutland in 1916. Harold Macmillan was injured in action in 1916. MG says that the blame for the events of 1914 should be placed on Serbia and Russia, and not on Austria. The Red Army fought to push the Poles back into Poland, almost back to Warsaw. The ...more
A very enlightening book - one wonders why the face of Western Europe, the Balkans and the Middle East looks the way it does - this will explain.
It seems that from this war, old empires fell, modern countries were formed, the glories of conflict was forever erased (gas, trenches, machine guns vs frontal charges on foot), and the seeds of more savage conflicts were sown.
It was startling to read that in so many countries after the first few years of the conflict, the number...more
It seems that from this war, old empires fell, modern countries were formed, the glories of conflict was forever erased (gas, trenches, machine guns vs frontal charges on foot), and the seeds of more savage conflicts were sown.
It was startling to read that in so many countries after the first few years of the conflict, the number...more
This book is a moderate read. It is a great account of WWI with very detailed history. This book details the whole history of the War, including events leading up to it. This War is always overshadowed by WWII when studying 20th century conflict. The most important factor of this war is that its end, issued in the beginning of WWII and many of the combatants saw this at the time. It also changed the map of Europe drastically. It also informs us greatly on the battles on the eastern front, th...more
Big book of death in the trenches. If people aren't being machine-gunned in No Man's Land, they're being blown into their component pieces by artillery. Gilbert uses a lot of contemporary anecdotes to illustrate the experience of trench warfare. He does an excellent job of describing the war on the main fronts, without stinting too much on the other theaters of conflict.
I have three criticisms: In the choice of accounts used, the book tends to be a bit Anglocentric. Gilbert justifies...more
I have three criticisms: In the choice of accounts used, the book tends to be a bit Anglocentric. Gilbert justifies...more
This is a narrative that tells the story of the war as a story--from start to finish, from the pre-war innocence through the decades of monument-laying afterwards; with every month in-between. The focus shifts from the military history of battles (and occasionally the politics behind them) to the soldiers who fought in them, usually within the same paragraph. In this way, the story seems the closest one can get to living as those who lived through it did--a revealing, a day at a time, of the big...more
This book was filled with facts and figures which can get a little dry and boring, however,looking past that and seeing the people involved in the war brought the book to life. What it also brought to life was how unnecessary World War I was. There seemed to be no reason for this war at all other than several European nations wanted to fight to get more territory. It was very disconcerting to read the continual accounts of the thousands of men who died on a daily basis during this war, especi...more
The best single volume history of WW1 that I have read. Martin Gilbert writes about life during cataclysmic world events not about the cataclysmic events themselves. Often you can forget that you are reading a book about a war at all, more you are reading about the clash of destinies from people all the way up to entire cultures and philosophies. I could go on and on. Reading both this book and his book on ww2 instead of one or the other would definately be the way to go.
I have always been drawn to WWII, and have usually ignored WWI. This book changed all that, and while I still gravitate to WWII, The Great War is now something I can understand and get a big picture of thanks to this book. I did come to hate the war, as far as its origins, because there is no driving cause that might even begin to justify so much waste. The carnage is simply disgusting and there are no excuses for this break down in human relations.
It was informative and comprehensive, if not British-centric (which is to be expected since Gilbert is an Englishman). I still can't believe I read the whole thing from cover to cover when I was sixteen though. It alternated between being very compelling and being very dense. I remember my history teacher in 11th grade spending a couple days talking about the war and this got me interested because it seemed so stupid and pointless. Wondering how the hell it started and managed to metastasize so ...more
Very good book long and detailed. It covers everything from the battle plans and movements on the trenches to the politics in the Capitals. It also gives a very nice pre history for an understanding of the atmosphere that started ww1.
I really enjoyed this. If you read 1 book on WW1, this is a good choice. My only criticism would be that Martin Gilbert does not spend enough time on events outside of the Western European theatre of operations.
I gave it 4 stars but it may deserve 5. An excellent, moving account of WW I -- the Great War -- the tragic and unnecessary war. Filled with a profound sense of irony and tragedy. Highly recommended.
Read this in '04. I remember reading it while hiding out in my grandma's house because my parents house was infested with Hobo spiders. So while 20,000 British soldiers died in the opening of the Somme offensive on the pages before my eyes, I was thinking only of giant spiders. It surely brings those men no honor.
The book however was very informative, even if it did have 1 or 2 discrepencies (smugly adjusts nerd glasses.) If you want to read one book about the Great War and no...more
The book however was very informative, even if it did have 1 or 2 discrepencies (smugly adjusts nerd glasses.) If you want to read one book about the Great War and no...more
I gave it 5 stars because I'm a history buff. For those who aren't, it would probably be seen as dry.
I read this because I knew very little about "the great war," now i have dreams about trenches and zeppelins.
Anything but complete. Very little of battlefield, mostly anecdotes of the marginally famous.
Beautiful, heartbreaking progression of the war. Does a marvelous job bringing continuity and a sense of order to a rambling, gargantuan war.
Gilbert does a wonderful job telling the history of the Great War, through letters, poetry and pure fact. It was a thick book, physically and content-wise, but very helpful in understanding the set-up for World War 2. I think World History classes would do well to have students read books like this instead of craming dates and facts from a textbook. Afterall the message of history is to not repeat it and this book makes it very clear why war is so horrible. Unfortunately the men who fought in WW...more
Very fine description of the history of the First World War
Great --- well written and well-researched!
I didn't finish it. As someone said, "The same damn thing over and over." Which sums up the war as well, which is part of what makes it such a tragedy. If insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a different result, WWI was insane.
A fine description, almost day by day, of the first act in Europe's 30 year self-immolation. Since there isn't really any good rational explanation for why this war happened, Gilbert does the service of not really trying to give one.
Accessible one-volume history of the mechanical slaughter of the First World War. A bit Anglocentric, and cites a lot of poetry as well as memoirs, but still earth-shattering stuff. The start of the chaotic century.
A thorough, but dry-as-my-mother-in-law's-Thanksgiving-turkey review of the First World War. Only a Brit could deliver a bloodless account of the bloodiest of modern wars.
A great one-volume overview of the Great War. Well written and covers far more than the Western Front and Gallipoli. Good maps, well illustrated.
Helped me a great deal in writing my thesis!
useful reference.
Good reference work
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Sir Martin John Gilbert is a British historian and Fellow of Merton College, University of Oxford. He is the author of over eighty books, including works on the Holocaust and Jewish history. Gilbert is a leading historian of the modern world, and is known as the official biographer of Sir Winston Churchill.
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