A World Undone: The Story of the Great War 1914 to 1918

This is an excellent book that tells the story of the "Great War" - the war that changed much of the world from what it was to what it is today. The author does a fine job of laying out that story. I especially liked the background sections that provided context behind what led to the events that started this war. More than any other book, this one lays the climactic events of this war and the impact - in Western Europe (the lead to World War II), in Russia (the Cold War), in the Middle East (Israel, Palestine, Iraq), and in Eastern Europe (Balkans). After reading the first chapters, I came to the recognition that August, 1914 was probably the most climactic month in the history of the modern world. The change that it caused is being felt even to today. For this reason alone, I recommend this book not only to history buffs but to all to better understand the reasons why.

In his introduction, the author states "It has long seemed to me that practically all popular histories of the Great War assume too much, expect too much of the reader, and therefore leave too much unexplained." He further states, "My final objective, and not the least of my objectives, has been to offer this story in the most readable form possible and thereby to do justice to its inherent drama." The author has more than meet his goals here, much more. This is one of the most readable accounts of the First World War I have read (and there have been many, many of those). The author's style is smooth, his research very accurate and detailed and he has been able to cram a surprisingly large amount of information in to a relatively small volume (small when compaired to many others now setting on my shelf). The author examens the root causes of the war and addresses this complex situation quite well in a comprehensive manner. For those of you that are familiar with the situation or situations that exsisted at that time, you will know that is is no easy matter! The author has followed developments step by step and organized his material in a way that is actually easy to follow and is far from boring. Even though the author does use body counts and statistics throughout the book, he pulls this off in a way that you actually understand the horror of the situation, what price the people paid then, and what price we are still paying to this very day. Now I will admit that there are many books out there with more detail...for goodness sakes, there are volumes and volumes written about each and every single battle in this conflict that started in 1914 and did not end until 1918. This is probably one of the most written about events in human history. But dispite those many tombs, few, if any, clarify the situations such as this author has done. For those interest in further study, more details, more statistics, there are certainly a lot of fields out there to plow. I have to agree with the reviewer that stated that if you only read one book on this war, this would be the one you should choose. I also like the way the illustrations, photos and maps were spread throughout the book rather than into one, two or there sections. I highly recommend this work and further recommend you add it to your library as you will no doubt want to give it a reread at a later date. Thank you Mr. Meyer!

Thousands of books have been written about the Great War; volumes both large and small covering every aspect of the war exist. For new readers, however, there are very few books that provide a detailed overview of the Great War with sufficient explanation to understand the historical, social, cultural, and ethnic threads that made this war so destructive. Keenan and Strachan have both provided excellent works that appeal to the more learned student of history, and now G.J. Meyer offers A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914-1918, that offers an excellent overview of the War to anyone with an interest in the subject. At just over 650 pages, the book reads smoothly and quickly. Meyer writes with a simple elegance, his words crisp with detail and easy to grasp. This is due in large part to his background as a journalist rather than a professional historian. The book's chapters structure lends well to his overall theme of understanding the war through gaining knowledge on its background. Each of the 36 chapters of detail are supported by a corresponding chapter of background information. For example, the book opens with the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip and the subsequent events between Austrio-Hungary and Serbia. To accompany this chapter, Meyer offers background on the Serbs. The combination works very well throughout the book, and sheds light on some topics other authors move quickly over. Meyer states in his introduction that he wanted to show "how the many elements that made up the Great War affected one another and deepened the disaster...I {sic} hope it captures at least some of the multidimensional richness of one of the most epic tragedies in the history of the world." Mr. Meyer, you have succeeded in your goal. This is an excellent book that will interest many, and can serve as a wonderful starting point for the discovery of specific interests within the Great War's vast history. Highly Recommended. A.G. Corwin St.Louis, MO

The causes of World War I were so diverse and complex, and the military strategies so intricate, that the war becomes a historian's ultimate dilemma: Write about it comprehensively and lose all but the most earnest readers, or skim the surface and don't do it justice? Mr. Meyer has found the perfect balance and tone to describe a war that was complicated, not at all glorious, and a proximate or ancillary cause of every major trouble the world has seen since. His journalistic skills serve the reader with startling immediacy, never forgetting to include the human effects of the war, so that rather than becoming an endless parade of statistics, the book is a riveting parable about a four-year train wreck of human miscalculation and arrogance in leadership, balanced by unbelievable heroism in the ranks. As I write this, the American nation is still embroiled in a seven year war in Iraq and Afghanistan that has killed 5,000 American soldiers so far. That was a typical DAY in World War I. Our modern 24 hour cable news cycle will (thankfully) just not permit the kind of carnage that the generals in World War I so casually created. Also of great interest are Mr. Meyer's short background articles, on subjects like Kaiser Wilhelm, the Junkers, the Cossacks, etc, which give the reader a real grounding in the flavor of the times, and are fascinating in their own right. Our leaders today are, like Tom Brokaw, agog over World War II, and the generation that won it. A shame. The war they really need to take lessons from is World War I, and Meyer's book is what they should read. This book is a triumph of history with the narrative pace of a novel. Don't miss it. I suggest readers who want to go deeper into World War I book-end this volume with The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman, and Paris 1919: Six Months that Changed the World, by Margaret Macmillan.