The Routledge Atlas of the First World War

by Martin Gilbert

From its origins to its terrible legacy, the tortuous and bloody course of the Great War is vividly set out in a series of 164 fascinating maps. Together the maps form a comprehensive and compelling picture of the war that shattered Europe, and illustrate its military, social, political and economic aspects. Beginning with the tensions that already existed, the atlas
* the early months of the from the fall of Belgium to the fierce fighting at Ypres and Tannenberg
* the developing war in from Gallipoli to the horrors of the Somme and Verdun
* life at the from living underground, the trench system and the mud of Passchendaele to the war graves
* war in the air and at from the Zeppelin raids to the battles in the North Sea, shipping losses and the Atlantic convoys
* technology and the new from phosgene gas attacks to submarines, tanks and mines
* the home from German food riots to the air defence of Britain, the Russian Revolution and the collapse of Austria-Hungary
* the from war debts and war deaths to the new map of Europe.

Genres: History, World War I, Reference, Military History, Historical, Nonfiction, War

164 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1970

About the author

The official biographer of Winston Churchill and a leading historian on the Twentieth Century, Sir Martin Gilbert was a scholar and an historian who, though his 88 books, has shown there is such a thing as “true history”

Born in London in 1936, Martin Gilbert was educated at Highgate School, and Magdalen College, Oxford, graduating with First Class Honours. He was a Research Scholar at St Anthony's College, and became a Fellow of Merton College, Oxford in 1962, and an Honorary Fellow in 1994. After working as a researcher for Randolph Churchill, Gilbert was chosen to take over the writing of the Churchill biography upon Randolph's death in 1968, writing six of the eight volumes of biography and editing twelve volumes of documents. In addition, Gilbert has written pioneering and classic works on the First and Second World Wars, the Twentieth Century, the Holocaust, and Jewish history.
Gilbert drove every aspect of his books, from finding archives to corresponding with eyewitnesses and participants that gave his work veracity and meaning, to finding and choosing illustrations, drawing maps that mention each place in the text, and compiling the indexes. He travelled widely lecturing and researching, advised political figures and filmmakers, and gave a voice and a name “to those who fought and those who fell.”

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Reviews

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love maps and this was an excellent tool to get a visual about the events of WWI. I had just finished The Guns of August by Barbara Touchman and this helped to solidify my introductary grasp at understanding this war. It is a quick read at 164 pages of useful information highlighting major battles, statistics, country sacrifice, war material usage, battle movements, countries involved at what stage, and sequence of events. These maps, statistics, and sequenced events gave clarity. I think many people in this world are visual learners so presenting the material in this fashion may help them learn and understand better than reading a long novel.

The downside of this book is that it is virtually impossible to made the reader feel the terribleness of war through statistics. Novels make people realize the horrors of war much better than graphs or charts. The purpose of the book is not to make one feel the war, but understand the sequence and grandness of it all and to that goal this book effectively did that for me.

[Dropbear123 · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5 rounding down. Maybe a bit harsh.

A fairly old atlas about the military, political, naval and economic/logistical issues of WW1. Due to the age the maps were all in black and white unfortunately. The military maps were ok and the maps of the specific trenches were very detailed but they aren’t really memorable. The political maps were pretty good if a bit simplistic in regards to ethnicity issues in the Central Powers. The naval and economic/logistical maps were actually pretty good though. They were very detailed with lots of statistics and locations of ships. In all areas the captions were a bit basic though.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought Gilbert's atlas in hopes figuring out where the hell Lawrence of Arabia is wandering around in the Hejaz. What is super helpful is that the place names in this atlas match the names of the ports, cities, and villages referenced in Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph.

[Ietrio · Rating 2 out of 5]

An atlas with the maps from 1914-1918. Nothing special.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being the centenary of WWI, I have been reading several books about the subject and this atlas has proven an indispensable companion to have within reach. It provides that extra bit of geographical detail that makes accounts of particular campaigns and incidents more comprehensible. I would recommend it also as a stand-alone read in its own right - open a page to any map and you will learn something.
I took one star (half a star if it wete possible) off because the black and white shadings can become confusing to the eyes at times.

[Jaimie · Rating 4 out of 5]

In comparison to Gilbert's complete history of WWI I found this a much more engaging book. It has just enough commentary with each map to create a readable storyline, but each map can also be treated as a standalone document - which is very helpful in not overwhelming readers with the dense details of the four years of war.

[Geoff · Rating 4 out of 5]

The maps are well detailed and informative, but they are dated being in black & white only - a revised edition with even grey shading would be welcome.
I like the maps in the Penguin historical atlases a bit more - the addition of a second colour makes a difference.

[John Matthew IV · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read in one setting. It is a good complement to A Military of the First World War by Arthur Banks, who did the maps here too.

Lots of maps that are not in the other atlas but the Banks book is better overall, much more thorough.

It does have an index and bibliographic essay.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this incredibly useful while studying WWI for my senior thesis.

[John]

Atlas of the First World War: The Complete History by Martin Gilbert (1994)

[Benjamin Barnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully Detailed Book About every thing dealing with The Great War

[Nishant Pappireddi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good WW1 atlas, though the maps were lower quality than in the WW2 atlas.