A School History of the Great War

by Albert Edward McKinley

This brief history of the world¿s greatest war was prepared upon the suggestion of the National Board for Historical Service. Its purpose is to expand into an historical narrative the outline of the study of the war which the authors prepared for the Board and which was published by the United States Bureau of Education as Teachers¿ Leaflet No. 4 in August 1918.' (Excerpt from Preface)

Genres: History

136 pages, Paperback

First published May 14, 2007

Reviews

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Greatly enjoy this little book although it’s designated as a school book, I probably learned more from this than some of the giant tombs on World War I. While the book is over 100 years old it presents in concise well organized format in plain English. It’s always interesting to have the perspective of a book written shortly after an event such as this one—the title alone, the Great War, has number behind it, they only imagined that this was the war to end all wars. And I may be a bit of a fogey here but I do think we could use these books today as an effective teaching tool. they are well-made nice compact size with maps inserted along the way and a nice chronology of events at the back.

[Jeff Thomson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderfully short piece of American government propaganda printed just after the close of the First World War. Printed for the purposes of educating the public on the origins, outbreak, and close of the war in 1918, this book provides the most elementary facts on the primary global powers and the differences between them that lead to World War 1.

It is a great first book to be introduced to the conflict and to have difficult and complex issues like the Balkans distilled to the most base historical facts. There are maps that accompany each section and every chapter is broken down very intuitively, pre war break downs for each country, then each year of the war and a few of the major events that defined that year. The book was written before the summation of diplomatic negotiations, so it ends with a breakdown of Woodrow Wilson's 14 Points.

So glad I found this little gem at The Last Bookstore (Support Independent Bookstores!), I will definitely be returning to it often as a quick guide on The Great War.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just finished the 1918 version and it was marvelous. Tremendously informative, interestingly opinionated and, at the same time, a bit sad - as they didn't know what was coming.

[John D Ouellette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just finished an original 1919 version of this school book. Very interesting to read the perspective of history as it is happening. As was stated it was sad to see what these reparations would cause in just a few years into the future.

[Seth Bowen · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is pretty interesting view of the Great War from people living at the time. It is very much from an American point of view, almost to the point of being not just against the Central Powers, but being anti-German.

[Todd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part school text book, part propaganda piece, this was a quick overview of World War 1 (naturally referred to as The Great War here).

The first three-fourths are the best, with good insights as to the state of the world pre-July 1914, and an analysis of how and why these jumbled up alliances were in place. The year by year breakdown of the war was truncated, but made sure to cover the significant battles, and mention fronts not normally delved into much for this war. In other words, not everything was about stagnant trench warfare and All Quiet on the Western Front, as it were. This even mentions the poorly planned interventions of the US, English, and Japanese in Russia, as naive excursions to counter the communists.

Where the book loses steam fast is when the chapter for 1918 closes, it ends with essentially "Germany didn't want to sign the armistice, then they changed their minds... the end; hip hip hooray!". This book has a huge anti-German prejudice, so not even a peep about the terms of their surrender. Yes, the Germans f*cked up France with unfair treaty terms in 1871, but France did no one any favors by f*cking Germany as badly as they did here. No great hindsight needed to see all of the makings of "The Great War II -- Electric Boogaloo" 21 years later.

That aside, the last fourth of this book is where it notches up the American superiority angle. All of the altruistic and pure of heart Americans (not those dirty European delinquents) sacrificing so much for a war whose outcome was never in doubt. The American Doughboys "Over There..., Over There" did help spell the exhausted Brits and French on the Western Front, and hastened the win in terms of logistics, material, and manpower..., but they were still in essence a relief pitcher in the 9th inning for a baseball game that was not really in doubt. Germany had to surrender when their allies (Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria) surrendered, and there were genuine fears of Germany itself being invaded.

So much rah-rah here about the rationing efforts and and how industry ramped up, and drafts of all men ages 18 through 45, and munitions and ships and planes and supplies hoarded... all for such a limited engagement in Europe. But hey, "America, f*ck yeah!", amirite?

Either way, this ca. 1919 Project Gutenberg eBook was interesting and worth a look if your knowledge of the war is only "Muddy trenches and gas masks before The Much More Interesting War happened".

WWI was much more than just an ugly poorly reviewed trailer for WWII. Flaws and all, books like this do help spread that message.