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The Cambridge History of the First World War
The Cambridge History of the First World War
Volume 2 of The Cambridge History of the First World War offers a history of the war from a predominantly political angle and concerns itself with the story of the state. It explores the multifaceted history of state power and highlights the ways in which different political systems responded to, and were deformed by, the near-unbearable pressures of war. Every state involved faced issues of military-civilian relations, parliamentary reviews of military policy, and the growth of war economies; and yet their particular form and significance varied in every national case. Written by a global team of historical experts, this volume sets new standards in the political history of the waging of war in an authoritative new narrative which addresses problems of logistics, morale, innovation in tactics and weapons systems, the use and abuse of science; all of which were ubiquitous during the conflict.
802 pages, Hardcover
First published December 31, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 2, 2020
The first volume of The Cambridge History of the First World War focuses on the war in time and space. First, the authors present it as an unfolding catastrophe, growing unpredictably in scale and in destructive power. Next, they analyze how the great powers unintentionally transformed the world order of 1914 into something completely different in 1918.
In this volume, the end of the expansion of capitalism, and the way WWI directed the remarkable energies of world economies towards a destructive enterprise are examined in detail. The authors aim to show that the war cannot be restricted to the Western Front or even to the European continent. Emphasizing the events in Eastern Europe and outside Europe helped them escape presenting a narrow view of WWI.
A lot of chapters are dedicated to the changing character of the moral and political aspects of warfare, including the dimming of distinctions between military and civilian targets.
The authors have included a very wide range of subjects, which sometimes blurs the focus or introduces a particular subject much too briefly, but generally, the first volume of The Cambridge History of the First World War is highly informative and comprehensively written. In my opinion, it can be compared to an extended textbook; it can serve as an amazing introduction to WWI. Recommendable.
In this volume, the end of the expansion of capitalism, and the way WWI directed the remarkable energies of world economies towards a destructive enterprise are examined in detail. The authors aim to show that the war cannot be restricted to the Western Front or even to the European continent. Emphasizing the events in Eastern Europe and outside Europe helped them escape presenting a narrow view of WWI.
A lot of chapters are dedicated to the changing character of the moral and political aspects of warfare, including the dimming of distinctions between military and civilian targets.
The authors have included a very wide range of subjects, which sometimes blurs the focus or introduces a particular subject much too briefly, but generally, the first volume of The Cambridge History of the First World War is highly informative and comprehensively written. In my opinion, it can be compared to an extended textbook; it can serve as an amazing introduction to WWI. Recommendable.
June 4, 2016
Disappointing. Perhaps it is the very wide sweep of subjects or that each author was only able to write an extended essays worth of material; but I found myself underwhelmed and wished there was a greater development of issues. Very expensive for what you get and much has been superseded elsewhere.
October 17, 2024
Karl Marx once observed that history repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce.
The Great War, the First World War, was THE tragedy, perhaps one of the greatest in human history. Informed observers would no doubt point to the Second World War: the mass casualties, the Holocaust, the atomic bombs, the triumph of the Soviet Union etc etc, and make a convincing case that this conflict was arguably worse, and they would be right to do so.
But to use the old cliché of cause and effect, WW1 was the cause. All other tragedy stems from it: the collapse of empires, the birth of the Soviet Union and the USA as a global power, the rise of national liberation movements in Africa and Asia, the mass blood-letting, the indiscriminate targeting of civilians, the horrors of poison gas and flamethrowers, genocide, an attempt by the Allies to codify crimes against humanity at Versailles in 1919, thus setting the foundations for the post WW2 Nuremberg trials etc etc
WW1 was the dress rehearsal for the 1940s.
This book, this noble attempt to explain and understand it, is not a general history of the war. Those can be found else where. It assumes prior knowledge, but what it does present, is a wonderful broad-brush approach to the campaigns, strategy, and an overview of the laws of war. In this respect, it is excellent.
Where it suffers, and why I didn't give it 5 stars, is that at times it strays from objective history. Robin Prior's contributions are a prime example of this. He seems to have an axe to grind with the British high command on the Western Front, though he redeems himself, somewhat, with his overview of the war against Ottoman forces in the Middle East.
Still, minor quibbles aside, this is an excellent piece of historical scholarship, and adds greatly to our knowledge and understanding of this catastrophic conflict.
Recommended.
The Great War, the First World War, was THE tragedy, perhaps one of the greatest in human history. Informed observers would no doubt point to the Second World War: the mass casualties, the Holocaust, the atomic bombs, the triumph of the Soviet Union etc etc, and make a convincing case that this conflict was arguably worse, and they would be right to do so.
But to use the old cliché of cause and effect, WW1 was the cause. All other tragedy stems from it: the collapse of empires, the birth of the Soviet Union and the USA as a global power, the rise of national liberation movements in Africa and Asia, the mass blood-letting, the indiscriminate targeting of civilians, the horrors of poison gas and flamethrowers, genocide, an attempt by the Allies to codify crimes against humanity at Versailles in 1919, thus setting the foundations for the post WW2 Nuremberg trials etc etc
WW1 was the dress rehearsal for the 1940s.
This book, this noble attempt to explain and understand it, is not a general history of the war. Those can be found else where. It assumes prior knowledge, but what it does present, is a wonderful broad-brush approach to the campaigns, strategy, and an overview of the laws of war. In this respect, it is excellent.
Where it suffers, and why I didn't give it 5 stars, is that at times it strays from objective history. Robin Prior's contributions are a prime example of this. He seems to have an axe to grind with the British high command on the Western Front, though he redeems himself, somewhat, with his overview of the war against Ottoman forces in the Middle East.
Still, minor quibbles aside, this is an excellent piece of historical scholarship, and adds greatly to our knowledge and understanding of this catastrophic conflict.
Recommended.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews