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THE FIRST WORLD WAR
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THE FIRST WORLD WAR ~ TOC AND SYLLABUS
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ISBN: 0-375-70045-5
Of course, this is the one that I found more readily available. I am sure that it will be fine for you to use another edition and follow along by chapter even though the page numbers may be different.
Just wanted to let you know in advance which edition I was using.
Bentley
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Start date:
February 21, 2010
Finish date:
April 25, 2010
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Table of Contents
List of Maps ix
List of Illustrations xi
Acknowledgments xv
ONE: A European Tragedy p.3
TWO: War Plans p.24
THREE: The Crisis of 1914 p.48
FOUR: The Battle of the Frontiers and the Marne p.71
FIVE: Victory and Defeat in the East p.138
SIX: Stalemate p.175
SEVEN: The War Beyond the Western Front p.204
EIGHT: The Year of Battles p. 257
NINE: The Breaking of Armies p. 309
TEN: America and Armageddon p. 372
Notes: p. 429
Bibliography p. 449
Index p. 457
John Keegan
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Week One - February 21st - February 28th -> Chapters ONE and TWO p.3-47
ONE - A European Tragedy and TWO - War Plans
Week Two - March 1st - March 7th -> Chapter THREE p. 48 - 70
THREE - The Crisis of 1914
Week Three - March 8th - March 14th -> Chapter FOUR. p. 71 -137
FOUR - The Battle of the Frontiers and the Marne
Week Four - March 15th - March 21st -> Chapter FIVE p.138 - 174
FIVE - Victory and Defeat in the East
Week Five - March 22nd - March 28th -> Chapter SIX p.175 - 203
SIX - Stalemate
Week Six - March 29th - April 4th -> Chapter SEVEN P. 204 - 256
SEVEN - The War Beyond the Western Front
Week Seven - April 5th - April 11th -> Chapter EIGHT p. 257 - 308
EIGHT - The Year of Battles
Week Eight - April 12th - April 18th -> Chapter NINE p. 309 - 371
NINE - The Breaking of Armies
Week Nine - April 19th - April 25th - > Chapter TEN p. 372 - 427
TEN - America and Armaggedon
John Keegan
The History Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
The First World War (other topics)The First World War (other topics)
The First World War (other topics)
Authors mentioned in this topic
John Keegan (other topics)John Keegan (other topics)
John Keegan (other topics)
The First World War
John Keegan
Synopsis of book: (Amazon Review)
"Despite the avalanche of books written about the First World War in recent years, there have been comparatively few books that deliver a comprehensive account of the war and its campaigns from start to finish.
The First World War fills the gap superbly. As readers familiar with Keegan's previous books (including The Second World War and Six Armies in Normandy) know, he's a historian of the old school.
He has no earth-shattering new theories to challenge the status quo, no first-person accounts to tug on the emotions--what he does have, though, is a gift for talking the lay person through the twists and turns of a complex narrative in a way that is never less than accessible or engaging.
Keegan never tries to ram his learning down your throat. Where other authors have struggled to explain how Britain could ever allow itself to be dragged into such a war in 1914, Keegan keeps his account practical.
The level of communications that we enjoy today just didn't exist then, and so it was much harder to keep track of what was going on. By the time a message had finally reached the person in question, the situation may have changed out of all recognition.
Keegan applies this same "cock-up" theory of history to the rest of the war, principally the three great disasters at Gallipoli, the Somme, and Passchendaele.
The generals didn't send all those troops to their deaths deliberately, Keegan argues; they did it out of incompetence and ineptitude, and because they had no idea of what was actually going on at the front.
While The First World War is not afraid to point the finger at those generals who deserve it, even Keegan has to admit he doesn't have all the answers.
If it all seems so obviously futile and such a massive waste of life now, he asks, how could it have seemed worthwhile back then?
Why did so many people carry on, knowing they would die? Why, indeed.
--John Crace, Amazon.co.uk