The War to End All Wars

Dec 05, 2012 Ed added it

Freedman, Russell. (2010). The War To End All Wars: World War I. Boston: Houghton Mifflin/Clarion. 176 pp. ISBN 978-0-547-02686-2 (Hard Cover); $22.00.

While this book certainly is not a comprehensive account of WWI, it does provide middle school and high school students a lucid explanation of the cause of the war and the war’s major events. Freedman also looks at the facts and models for students the way historians use facts to propose a theory. Freedman makes the case that World War I was a col...more

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Jan 30, 2012 Meredith rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult

There seems to be such a high focus on literature regarding World War II, which is one of my favorite topics to read about in both fiction and non-fiction, but this book focuses on the first World War, which seems to garner less attention. World War I really set the stage for what happened in World War II, so it is important to understand the history of both events. I liked this book because I thought it was written in such a way that junior high and high school students could read and understan...more

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Mar 22, 2011 Julie rated it 3 of 5 stars

I thought this was a well-done history book, but nothing more. It doesn't take nonfiction to the level of storytelling, as in the works of Jon Krakauer or Erik Larson. I question whether today's young people, who mostly have absolutely no sense of history, would have any interest in this at all. However, I'm sure it would do very well for any student doing further research into WWI.

Probably my sense of this book was hindered by the fact that I listened to the audiobook. The reader, although givi...more

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Oct 02, 2010 Lars Guthrie rated it 5 of 5 stars

World War I attracts war buffs of middle school and high school age. Its combination of anachronism--horses and swords--and modernity--tanks and chemicals--is fascinating. Its scale--truly global, nine million combatants dead--is astounding. It began with a conundrum--the obscure heir to the shabby remnants of the Holy Roman Empire murdered by a teenage member of an obscure Serbian terrorist cell--and ended with a remapped and unsettled world destined for an even larger conflict.

Young researcher...more

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Sep 14, 2010 Sarai rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult-nonfiction, nonfiction-historical, general-nonfiction, historical

The book was interesting and the photos included were very dramatic and perhaps cleaned up a little. But there were a couple of places in the book where I was not sure the author had his facts right, and then I talked to a couple of other people and they said the same thing. Wondering about the correctness made me wary of trusting other parts of the book.

Product Description
Nonfiction master Russell Freedman illuminates for young readers the complex and rarely discussed subject of World War I. Th...more

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Sep 07, 2010 Richard rated it 2 of 5 stars

I didn't realize this was written for a teen audience when I checked it out from the library. Therefore, I'll rate & review it considering that it is meant for teens.

The book does a pretty good job as a chronicle of the horrors of WWI from a humanitarian perspective: the soldiers that died in the mud, were gassed or blown apart or suffered diseases peculiar to life in the trenches.

However, as a book of history, it comes up short. The book leaves out a lot of important information while spend...more I didn't realize this was written for a teen audience when I checked it out from the library. Therefore, I'll rate & review it considering that it is meant for teens.

The book does a pretty good job as a chronicle of the horrors of WWI from a humanitarian perspective: the soldiers that died in the mud, were gassed or blown apart or suffered diseases peculiar to life in the trenches.

However, as a book of history, it comes up short. The book leaves out a lot of important information while spending a lot of time on historically unimportant detail. For example, a half of a sentence is devoted to Japan's entry into the war, while the damage sustained by a hospital in Serbia warrants a paragraph.

Typically, Wilson is credited for his efforts at trying to bring an end to the war. However, later on Freedman mentions the segregated US Army without informing the reader that Wilson was responsible for segregating the Army. Likewise, Freedman mentions the Espionage and Sedition Acts without noting Wilson's support of those policies.

No mention is made of the Russo-Japanese War just a few years before the outbreak of WWI, where most of the tactics & armaments of WWI were first used on a large scale, and which contributed the the fall of Czarist Russia almost as much as did WWI.

The book covers many individual battles well enough, but I think most readers will have a hard time keeping the big-picture narrative straight. The book uses lots of photographs. The book would have benefited from fewer photos of soldiers sitting in a trench/tent/field, and a few more maps and charts to show where what was happening when.

The book seems contradictory in a few places. At one point, the author implies that pre-war Europe wanted peace, yet a page or two later everyone was "armed to the teeth" and ready to go to war.

The author makes a lot of assertions that are neither attributed nor backed up with any kind of evidence. I suppose this style keeps the book simple for the teen readers, but the reader is ill-served when unsubstantiated opinion is presented as fact.

Overall, a shallow and unrepresentative book on WWI, that nonetheless presents a lot of detail about certain aspects of the war. Many of the individual events of the war, e.g., the battles, are told in an engaging way.

My 2-star rating is a blend of 1-star for what history the book chose to include and to leave out, 1-star for presenting unsubstantiated opinion as fact, 2-stars for not doing a better job of focusing on the big picture, and 4-stars for making the combatants experience seem horrible and real.(less)

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May 25, 2010 J. Green rated it 5 of 5 stars

Few today take much thought about World War One, yet its outcome created the conditions that led to WWII and we're still dealing with it's repercussions in the Middle East. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand set in motion events that quickly spiraled out of control, engulfing all the major European powers (the heads of which were all related, ironically) and even spreading to their colonies and the Middle East. Millions eagerly flocked to their nation's armies with romantic and heroic...more

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May 26, 2011 Josiah rated it 3 of 5 stars

Russell Freedman really does not pull any punches in some of the quotes that he selects to represent the feelings of those directly involved in World War I combat. The violence spoken of that was personally experienced by these soldiers is graphic beyond understanding, to the point where it's difficult to even authentically imagine some of the scenes as described. Such descriptions in The War to End All Wars: World War I always have a point, though. They give the reader a measure of underlying...more Russell Freedman really does not pull any punches in some of the quotes that he selects to represent the feelings of those directly involved in World War I combat. The violence spoken of that was personally experienced by these soldiers is graphic beyond understanding, to the point where it's difficult to even authentically imagine some of the scenes as described. Such descriptions in The War to End All Wars: World War I always have a point, though. They give the reader a measure of underlying comprehension of the particularly gory nature of this conflict, and why World War I was so much bloodier than most wars. This was a time in history when battle technology was rapidly advancing in some avenues yet not in others, and when that disparity reared its ugly head...the results were sickening.

The start to World War I was so complicated and distorted that to this day, scholars debate what really went on under the surface and how, exactly, the tangled cross-alliances between countries led to all of the involved parties getting into a war that had little ultimate meaning for anyone. There was not much to gain for any of the nations in the struggle, but after the initial declarations of war were announced and scores of national militias were called to mobilize, it would have been practically impossible to avoid the crushing hammer of war that hung over all of their heads. So The Great War began, with none of the major players aware in the least of where the path of war would eventually lead them. Even in their wildest nightmares, it's difficult to believe that the extent of the full slaughter of World War I could have been guessed by anyone.

Great Britain, France and Russia (as well as some smaller allies) boldly sent their prime fighting forces to meet the armies of Germany and Austria-Hungary in a mighty initial clash that rocked the world. Before long, the British and their German foes were embedded so deeply in trenches on their respective sides of the Western Front that significant advance by either militia became virtually impossible, and the main part of the war settled down to a slow crawl that pushed the boundaries of ordinary tedium. Soldiers from both sides who were on the front lines of the Western Front were deluged by sudden, frenzied killing followed by long stretches of interminable boredom, back and forth, over and over again without much to divert their minds from the prison of reality. It must have been like being immersed in freezing cold water and then boiling hot water and back again, without a break, and knowing that it's going to continue as far into the future as one can see. I honestly can't figure how they were able to stand up under that sort of continuous pressure.

The Western Front was set up perfectly for a horrible, extended bloodbath, due to the nature of newly developed weaponry. For the first time, the automated machine gun was a huge part of a war; removing from the equation the need to manually cool down gun barrels between shots meant that both sides could fire faster, and for a much longer time. Fighting forces used to being able to charge the enemy as one big group, and accept the number of resulting casualties if it meant successfully infiltrating the other army, were now totally overmatched; a sudden sprint toward the enemy's trenches would do nothing but leave hundreds (or even thousands) of soldiers completely vulnerable to the merciless attack of the foe's potent and devastatingly rapid machine guns, an implacable force of pure death that could render a whole crew of soldiers dead within moments. The chilling power of the awesome new artillery was making an impact in this war, all right, and was chiefly responsible for the lack of movement on the Western Front that torturously stretched on for years.

Even as Russell Freedman feeds us quote after quote about what it was really like on the Western Front, it's hard to truly be able to envision such horrors happening right before one's own eyes. Soldiers mutilated beyond recognition in the blink of an eye, lying on the ground writhing in unimaginable torment as the half of their body still intact dies at far too slow a pace, screaming to their comrades to quicken their demise... These were the same emotionally innocent soldiers who had jumped at the chance to personally enter the war, bursting with national pride to join the front ranks and really show everyone how much they loved their country. Now, their dreams for patriotic adventure were destroyed, and so was any hope for their own future. That was the real toll extracted by World War I, I believe, more terrible than any other. The destruction of hope for the future.

Even this war would pass, though. After nearly four years of nonstop gruesome death, the United States finally stepped in and cast their lot with the original Allies, bringing fresh troops to a cluster of brave nations so badly in need of them. Now undeniably outnumbered, Germany fought on for a while before national morale became too low to reasonably continue any further, and that proud nation, the last to fight on its side of the war, surrendered to the Allies. After eight-and-a-half million deaths and twenty-one million injuries accrued worldwide, The Great War was at its end. There would be no more fighting on the continent of Europe, which had been decimated by the destruction that had covered its face so completely.

As Russell Freedman shows, the harsh treaty requirements pushed upon the German government by the Allied nations would not be accepted without resentment. This unhappiness with the status quo ended up being a major reason why the Germans, only twenty years later, were so willing to get behind a leader like the recklessly idealistic Adolf Hitler, whose frenetic promises to reunite Germany into a powerful nation and take back what had once belonged to her stirred the patriotic spirit of her denizens and made them feel whole again. It is on this ominous note of looking toward the dark storm clouds of the future that the author takes his leave, allowing us to ponder for ourselves the second World War that was to come, and how it grew from the seeds of the first disastrous conflict.

So, what is there to learn from World War I? That's not an easy question to definitely answer. The reasons behind the war were so protracted, and the extent to which the nations were involved so wrapped up in the complicated alliances that had been formed, that it's hard to really point the finger of blame at one particular people. Was it the fault of Serbia, maybe? Or was Germany, or Russia, or Austria-Hungary the real culprit? I really don't know, and I don't think anyone does know. Perhaps the most enduring lesson that we can take from World War I is to see the totally overwhelming cost that war potentially can have on any nation involved, and how absolutely crucial it is, therefore, not to let ultimately small issues take us down that path of aggression. The tax levied by war is just too great. We cannot afford to mourn another "Lost Generation". We just can't...

The War to End All Wars is a book of great intensity and power, wonderfully written, though dependent for most of its deeper meaning on the words of the men who were actually there and fought in the trenches, seeing their friends die violent deaths and knowing well that theirs could be next. This is a book that I'm sure will take its rightful place at the top with the other best nonfiction books about The Great War, explaining the conflict and its time period to younger readers in ways that they can fully understand, while not at all dimming the presentation of the raw horror of the events that it describes. This might be the best of Russell Freedman's books that I have read.(less)

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Feb 10, 2012 Serena rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommended to Serena by: Anna Horner

The War to End All Wars: World War 1 by Russell Freedman is a collection of historical information about the war enhanced by photos and a good introduction to this part of history for ages 7 and up. Not only does Freedman offer the political, social, and military ins and outs of the build up to WWI, he illustrates the circumstances of the time period through photographs of soldiers in training, women pinning flowers on marching soldiers leaving for war, women plowing the fields without horses, a...more

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Sep 21, 2011 Heidi rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-book-challenge, 2012-beehive-nominee, children-0-12, ya-12-19, nonfiction, historical

The way a quick nonfiction on a very broad topic/event should be done: concise, clear, good illustrations/photos, fast read, and showing both sides and (in my opinion) in a rather unbiased way. I've never been much up on any history from the 20th Century; I like to blame it on not covering it in school instead of my lack of personal interest and research until my adulthood. So I learned quite a bit from this book that I did not know before. I gained a desire to read more on some things that were...more

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Oct 10, 2010 Debbie Graham rated it 3 of 5 stars

Although this book is quite fascinating and has some startling bits of information,l for the target age group of readers, they will probably feel the horrors more if they see some actual footage. Also the book is marred by lack of detailed maps and also not explaining some terms/places. For example, Galicia is not just part of Spain but also was a part of Poland/Ukraine...most of the targeted readers would not have any idea where Galicia is/was. Also the author included a picture of a Nathan Fre...more

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Feb 02, 2011 Paul Garth rated it 4 of 5 stars

First Audio Book I've listened to in entirety, so I zoned in/out multiple times, unfortunately.

Pretty depressing stuff, especially the descriptions of soldiers taking forever to move just a few yards forward, and most of them not surviving. Also, appeared that the military machines started the fight because the cogs had started turning and it was to hard to stop -- looked like one of the three needed to step up and say, "Look -- we're freakin' related -- let's talk this one out..."

Reason for my...more

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Jan 19, 2011 Jan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: teenbooks, non-fiction

I can’t get this book out of my mind. Freedman is masterful at evoking all the emotions of war, from the patriotic fervor at the beginning to the shell shocked disillusionment at the end. He combines memorable images of WWI with anecdotes and accounts from soldiers and a balanced and highly readable historical narrative. I particularly loved the voices of the soldiers that added such an immediate dimension to Freedman’s narrative. The story that he includes about the Russian and German ambassado...more

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Jan 06, 2011 Treasa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-for-boys, children, grades-3-5, history, middle-school, non-fiction, war, mock-newbery

A well-written and well-researched account of World War I. Freedman managed to make a war that I vaguely remembered learning about in history class a personal and important part of history. I would not claim to be an expert on World War I after reading this book, but my understanding of the war has certainly been expanded. Freedman does a good job of mixing basic factual information with interesting tidbits that help make the people and events seem more real. And the use of photographs and capti...more A well-written and well-researched account of World War I. Freedman managed to make a war that I vaguely remembered learning about in history class a personal and important part of history. I would not claim to be an expert on World War I after reading this book, but my understanding of the war has certainly been expanded. Freedman does a good job of mixing basic factual information with interesting tidbits that help make the people and events seem more real. And the use of photographs and captions is quite effective, both in making the war personal and in expanding the reader's understanding - words can convey a lot, but there's nothing quite like seeing photographs of the people, places, and battles that the words are trying to describe.

Freedman presents this book in a basically unbiased way - or at least as unbiased as I have ever seen a history book. He doesn't blame one side or the other - in fact, he mentions good and bad things that both sides did. As an American, I might be inclined to side with the Allies and focus on how terrible Germany's actions were, but Freedman's book showed me that the Allies were far from perfect and Germany was far from a complete villain. It was a great experience to read an account of a war that tells both sides of the conflict without any obvious bias.

As far as factual books about World War I for children (or even for adults, really - I learned a lot) go, this was superb. As far as it being a fun read.... not so much, but that's what I would expect from a book about a war. There were certainly humorous bits thrown in, but the overall tone of the book is so very somber. The whole way through, I felt that Freedman was reminding me how many lives were being lost needlessly. There was one battle in particular where he said something about the British losing 70,000 lives (I could have the number wrong since I don't have the book in front of me) for 5 miles of Flanders mud. Reading statistics like that is like having to swallow a disgusting medicine: it's necessary to hear that to understand the war, but it leaves a terrible taste in my mouth.

I thought it was interesting that Freedman ends the book by setting up for World War II. Perhaps this means we can expect a book on WWII next? I, for one, hope so.(less)

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Jan 10, 2013 Jackie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: children-non-fiction, historical, wars-wwi

The War to End All Wars: World War I does not sugar coat the grim facts of war and this one is particularly gruesome and costly, to both human life and humanity. More than 20 nations were involved in the conflict in one way or another and it lasted four long years. Casualties were approximated around 8.5 million with another 8 million missing in action and 21 million wounded.

For the avid history-buff, this Russell Freedman historical perspective is rich with photographs, quotes, and facts. Foll...more

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Mar 28, 2011 Amy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 104-in-2011, ya-lit-class

This non-fiction book is about as good as they come.

I have been privileged to read another Russell Freedman book last semester, The Freedom Riders. I didn’t realize until putting a hold on this one at the library that is was by the same author as the other. I was really excited to read it, which is unusual for me considering my love of fiction
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There is something so unique about Freedman’s work that has caused me to be just as sucked into his books as I am in works of fiction. And it’s even more...more This non-fiction book is about as good as they come.

I have been privileged to read another Russell Freedman book last semester, The Freedom Riders. I didn’t realize until putting a hold on this one at the library that is was by the same author as the other. I was really excited to read it, which is unusual for me considering my love of fiction
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There is something so unique about Freedman’s work that has caused me to be just as sucked into his books as I am in works of fiction. And it’s even more remarkable considering the ending of these historical nonfiction books is no surprise. Freedman has a distinct narrative style and tells a definite story. It almost reads as well as a really good journal article. The facts are all there, but there is a humanness and hint of personality in the words as well. I believe this is why I really enjoy Freedman’s work but find other nonfiction dull or a little patronizing.

Another notable aspect of The War to End All Wars is the format and layout of the book. I love the aesthetically pleasing white space on the page, and the easy chapter transitions. The larger font helps balance out the large images and makes for easy reading. And the images themselves were hauntingly beautiful. I was especially grateful for the maps!

As for the story or information itself, I was grateful for the clear explanation of this war which I previously knew little about. It was shocking to find out that the war’s beginning, which I never understood, was never really understood by anybody. The book did a great job portraying the “pointlessness” of the war while showing the battles and soldier’s sacrifices as anything but pointless.

Overall, The War to End All Wars was a fascinating book that gives readers an accurate and pondering look into this Great War. I do think this book is especially beneficial to teens because, at least when I was in school, history lessons focus more on the Revolutionary War, Civil War, and WWII. This heated time period is an essential part of the world’s history; knowledge of it will benefit all, especially young people headed into a more active role in the world.
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Jan 18, 2011 Heidi rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-2011

Another fine historical selection from Russell Freedman. Chronological details take the reader from the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914 through the horrors of the Great War, the signing of the Armistice and the Treaty of Versailles to the beginning of the Second World War--Hitler's invasion of Poland in September 1939. Numerous black and white photos complement the text and four maps show the changing boundaries of European nations during the f...more

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Jan 06, 2011 Meredith rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: childrens-lit, nonfiction, mock-newbery

Why don't we learn about this in school? Seriously, I remember taking maybe a couple of days to learn about WWI in high school (mostly that trench warfare is ineffective), but in terms of world-altering, this is a big deal. I learned so much while reading this book, and it definitely prompted me to find out more (to my way of thinking, the surest sign of a great nonfiction book). The pictures were haunting, the statistics almost unbelievable, the quotes from people who lived through it were hear...more

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Oct 11, 2010 Linda rated it 4 of 5 stars

World War I (which didn't become known as that until after WWII) was caused by a local event and then spiraled into a global conflict, with every participant accusing the other of starting it. I didn't know much about WWI (it seems we never got beyond reconstruction in my history classes.
It was a war during which and afterwards everything changed, for example, technology went from horseback charges to airplanes and tanks. It set the stage for what would happen in the world for the rest of the c...more

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Mar 25, 2012 Rebecca Douglass rated it 4 of 5 stars

An excellently-written bit of history. I was a bit confused at first, but it wasn't the author's fault--I got it from the library and it was classified as "adult non-fiction." I hadn't gotten very far before I realized that was an error (one I'll try to get them to correct). But as a work of WWI history for kids in the upper elementary and Jr. High range, the book is great. Clear, succinct discussion of how the war started, what happened at key moments, and details from letters and journals givi...more

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Aug 30, 2011 Laura (booksnob) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, non-fiction, young-adult, humanities-reading-list

War World I was suppose to be the war to end all wars in the world. It was brutal, deadly, and unforgettable. Thousands of lives would be lost for a few feet of territory. Unfortunately World War I was a precursor and a cause of World War II and as we all know the horrors of war continue in the world today.

World War I started when Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were killed by a Serbian terrorist group called the Black Hand in 1914 in Sarajevo. After their murders Austria-Hungary d...more

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Jan 11, 2011 Marsha rated it 5 of 5 stars

A great book! Freedman does a masterful job of explaining the inexplicable--how Europe got embroiled in the war in the first place. We hear so much about WWII, but not much about the huge tragedy of the first World War. It was fascinating and horrible to read about the stupid decisions and the changes in warfare that cost so many lives. It was like watching someone unknowingly walk off a cliff; I kept wanting to shout, "Stop! Quit! Don't you see what you are doing?!" I also got a better understa...more

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Mar 21, 2013 Mr. Palmer rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: informational-american-history, informational-wwi

Newberry winner Russell Freedman offers this quick 160 page summary of "the war to end all wars." There is much to like about this book. It is loaded full of pictures that help to visually tell the story of World War I.

I have always wanted to know more about this war. Through all of my years of education I remember very little study on the topic. World War II was a result of World War I and Freedman does a good job explaining the connections to young readers in the last chapter of the book.

I w...more Newberry winner Russell Freedman offers this quick 160 page summary of "the war to end all wars." There is much to like about this book. It is loaded full of pictures that help to visually tell the story of World War I.

I have always wanted to know more about this war. Through all of my years of education I remember very little study on the topic. World War II was a result of World War I and Freedman does a good job explaining the connections to young readers in the last chapter of the book.

I was struck by how willing much of Europe was to enter this war. Freedman discusses this in chapter 3, "In the capital cities of all the combatant nations, the outbreak of war was greeted with emotional displays of patriotism. Crowds thronged the streets, singing their nation's songs and cheering every military unit that passed." On top of the excitement, many thought that the war would be very short. Freedman cites a young French student who was confident that the war would last only two, maybe three months.

One of the things I had a hard time wrapping my head around in this book was the massive devastation, misery, and loss of life that this war caused. Some battles saw the loss of what would be the equivalent of small cities in just days. During the Battle of the Somme one day saw 20,000 men killed and another 40,000 wounded. There were over one million total lives lost in this battle which lasted from July 1, 1916 to November 19. At the same place in 1918 another 700,000 were killed.

In addition to all the lives lost, there was much pain and suffering experienced by both sides. World War I saw the first effective use of poison gas in any war. Both sides of the war used gases like chlorine, phosgene, and mustard gas. Chlorine and phosgene stop the lungs from absorbing oxygen Mustard gas burns and blisters the skin, causes temporary blindness, and floods the lungs which eventually leads to a lingering and painful death.

If you you weren't killed by a bullet or a bomb, and the poison gas didn't get you, there was the inhuman conditions of trenches. "Officers and men alike shared their trenches with rats and frogs, with slugs and horned beetles that burrowed into the trench walls, with lice that infested every man's clothing. Rats as big as cats scampered across sleeping men's faces at night and chewed through their clothing to get at the food in their pockets....Blood-sucking lice, breeding in the seams of clothing, spread from one man to the next...Ninety-five percent of British soldiers coming off the line were infested with lice...Lice carried an infectious disease called trench fever...which put thousands of men out of action. Trench foot, a painful fungal infection, was brought on by standing in cold, wet mud for days...scores of men could not walk back from the trenches, but had to crawl, or to be carried by their comrades...Added to these indignities was the awful stench that hung over the frontlines...The reek from rotting corpses lying in shallow graves..."

I liked the way the author told the story of the war with extensive quotes from people that actually experienced it. You could hardly go a page in the book without finding some actual person to confirm the author's claims. I do wish that Freedman had made the book a little longer. I would have liked to see a little more depth on the political realities of the countries that led to the war. Overall, this is a great book for young adults.
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Jan 02, 2013 Matt rated it 4 of 5 stars

I've listened to two of Freedman's books so far and he does a good job providing enough detail to maintain interest but also moving quickly enough to...well, maintain interest. In this book he includes many first-hand accounts that provide a better feel for the war and it's effects. The day before finishing this book, I finished a series of lectures from John Ramsden on WWI and so I can't help but compare the two. I found Freedman's book was more concise, did a better job explaining events coher...more

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Nov 23, 2010 Savannah rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really, really enjoyed this - I think it's the first book I've ever read that clearly explained the causes and battles of World War I in a way that I could actually understand (that could mean that I have the understanding level of a Young Adult, but I'm going to go with the fact that this war is notoriously hard to wrap your head around). I loved all the quotes from letters and journals of men and women actually involved - it really made everything seem much more personal. I do wish there wer...more

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Sep 23, 2012 Jeff rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: history

This was a nice light book on the history surrounding the first world war. The author did not go into great depth into the history of the war and did not weigh down the book with lots of dates or analysis. I felt it was a little bare on the details for what I was looking for because I wanted a little more history but the book would be a good book for younger readers or if you just want to learn about the basic history. I did learn some new things. For example, I always thought that the United St...more

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Dec 12, 2010 Jennifer rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mock-newbery-2011, children-s, non-fiction

Probably the best nonfiction book I have read about WWI. Actually, one of the few...

Pretty well done. I did get bogged done a couple times by details, but it managed to pull me back. I learned quite a few things I didn't know before. The beginning part, describing the assassination, was heart-breaking. Franz Ferdinand and Sophie really loved one another!

As for whether I consider it Newbery-worthy, hmmm, not too sure. It could have been a bit more engaging. I mean, I know its an account of a horr...more

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Oct 14, 2010 Heather rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: loe

If you're anything like me, your perception of World War I may be a bit fuzzy. It seems like coverage of the "War to End All Wars" was sort of sandwiched between the Civil War and World War II in most of my history classes. I knew that the conflict began after the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand, but how that sparked the war was always a mystery to me. Freedman's newest book--one of three published this year WWI--is an excellent overview of the complexities leading to and results of that...more

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Jul 18, 2011 Linda Munro rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book has everything one would need to understand WWI. It is written in a quick, precise and interesting manner; so interesting that I found myself reading every work instead of the skim I sometimes do one nonfiction books. From the causes of the war, to the fighting; this book offers words of those who fought and died in the locations described. It also makes the reader realize how the terms of the 'Peace Treaty' led not only to WWII, but also to the Middle East conflicts of today.
I sugges...more

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Sep 05, 2010 Margo Tanenbaum rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, world-war-ii

We all know what World War II was about--even school kids still hear about Hitler, Hiroshima, and Anne Frank--but World War I doesn't have the huge place in popular culture these days that World War II occupies. Yes, we might remember that the war started with the assassination of an Austrian archduke, but what was it all really about?

In the opening chapter, Freedman lays out the critical events of June 28, 1914--the date the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the imperial throne of Austria-Hunga...more We all know what World War II was about--even school kids still hear about Hitler, Hiroshima, and Anne Frank--but World War I doesn't have the huge place in popular culture these days that World War II occupies. Yes, we might remember that the war started with the assassination of an Austrian archduke, but what was it all really about?

In the opening chapter, Freedman lays out the critical events of June 28, 1914--the date the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the imperial throne of Austria-Hungary, and his wife, Sophie, were assassinated by a member of a Serbian terrorist group. Austria wanted to punish Serbia for this crime, and declared war on its neighbor. But in a series of events that "appeared to defy logic and common sense," before long, all of Europe is caught up in a war that, as Freedman explains succinctly, "few had expected and almost no one wanted...historians continue to debate the tangled and confusing causes of the conflict, the series of accidents, blunders, and misunderstandings that swept the nations of Europe toward war...whether war might have been avoided."

Troops were quickly mobilized, and six million troops were soon on the move in Europe. Each country initially believed that troops would be home by Christmas, and Freedman documents the outbreak of national patriotism that erupted in all the combattant nations. Young men of all European countries ran to volunteer, and we see poignant photographs of fresh-faced young soldiers smiling as they leave for war. But the battles that ensued in August of 1914 brought a new kind of horror to warfare, leading to more than 100,000 deaths and several hundred thousand injured in just that brief period. But no one could have forseen that the war would drag on for four long years, fought in trenches on a Western front that would change little over the rest of the war and spreading to other countries throughout the world.

Besides talking about the war chronologically, Freedman discusses different themes, including the changing technology of warfare, life in the trenches, in-depth discussions of particularly important battles, a discussion of the war at sea, America's role in the war, and the aftermath of the conflict.

Freedman enriches his narrative with plenty of moving first-hand descriptions from soldiers who fought in the war; these eye-witnesses hoped that by describing the horrors of war in all their terrible details they would help it from happening again. The abundant archival photographs and maps are critical to the emotional impact of this book (this title is available on audiobook, but without the photographs the listener would miss so much of the impact of this volume that I can't imagine choosing to experience this particular book that way). We see soldiers, both dead and alive, photographed in their trenches, wearing gas masks, washing their feet to help prevent infection, and burying their comrades, as well as photos of world leaders, civilians, and scenes of the devestated landscape.

Freedman emphasizes at the end of the book that it is impossible for us to really understand the massive human cost of this war; 65 million men fought in the conflict, with more than half becoming casualties (either killed, wounded, missing, or taken prisoner), not to mention the 10 million civilians estimated to have died of war-related famine or disease. What's more, entire towns were destroyed, farmland burned, and the European economy left in ruins.

The bitter irony of Freedman's title, The War to End all Wars, will not be lost on any of his readers, since despite the fervent hopes of those who fought in The Great War, another enormous conflict erupted less than a generation later. Russell ends his narrative with an ominous full-bleed, two-page photograph of Nazi soldiers in tanks waiting for the order to invade Poland, just 20 years after the Treaty of Versailles.

This outstanding book is clearly a must-have for all school and public libraries, and is likely to figure prominently during "award season." While this book could be used for school reports, it makes a riveting read for anyone interested in history. An interesting footnote: this book is dedicated to Freedman's father, who fought in France in WWI as a teenager.
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The War to End All Wars: World War I

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