The Experience of World War I

In terms of human suffering, sheer scale and expense and vastness of effort, and political and social implications, World War I dwarfed every other military event before it. Inasmuch as it led directly to the Russian revolution and the Soviet Union, and that the handling of the aftermath made all but inevitable the eventual rise of a regime such as that in Nazi Germany which then made inevitable a sort of phase 2 to the conflict in the form of World War II, the first war must be seen as the most important political/military happening since at the very least the 30 Years War. Nothing important, and almost nothing at all, was the same after the war had run its course as it had been before it was begun. A bit of a shame then, one might think, that basically nothing about it is taught in schools any more. Winter's book is an excellent single volume treatment of the entire conflict. It is divided in two ways. The first is to break the war down as it pertained first to the politicians in charge, then the generals running the war, then the soldiers and finally the civilians affected. Within those general parameters, it is further broken down by year and the general trends of the war. Finally, there are chapters covering the immediate aftermath of the war in the countries of the victors as well as those vanquished; the political and grand strategic implications on all. There is also a chapter on the literature, the arts, and films covering or touching on the experience of the war. The text throughout is balanced, concise and well written. Where there is controversy, for example over the ultimate war guilt of the various parties, multiple sides of the argument are all fairly presented for the reader to reflect on. Supplementing the general text are dozens of sidebars giving us a few paragraphs each on biographies of many of the more colorful or important personalities on each side; the weapon systems and how they changed the conflict; statistics on everything from relative casualties to how many wagonloads of equipment and food or ammunition a corps in the field might need. There is nothing of importance regarding life on the front or at home that is not at least touched on. Graphically the volume is gorgeous, with excellent photos on every page, maps and graphs in abundance, charts illustrating a wide variety of subjects, indeces and notes in plenty. It is a superb production in every way. There are many, many books covering in detail each and every important individual subject presented in this book. Most are worth reading if you have the time and interest. However, for a single book addressing at least some information on each aspect of the war, and presented in such a clear and well done way, in under 300 pages, this is the book to buy.

I very much enjoy reading all types of history, but, for some reason had neglected WWI. I knew the basics of the Ferdinand assasination and that it escalated rapidly. US comes in at the end, Russia disinigrates into civil war and Germany's mistreatment at Versailles that leads to WWII. That's the cliff notes version. This book did an excellent job of breaking it down into several sections that helped you understand the many facets of the war. From the generals to the soldiers, to the weapons to the civilians, he does an excellent job of clarifying a very muddy picture. Speaking of pictures, the photos in the book were phenomenal and the accompanying charts and data facts were easy to follow and understand. An overall excellent primer for anyone wanting to get a more detailed understanding of WWI.

Few books really have as much as this book has. You can read this book and you will know mostly everything about the Great War. There are chapters not just about war on the fronts but also about the civilians, the spies and the U-bouts. This book does not take sides and in one of the chapters about the Soldiers of the war, it really makes you think. One of the great quotes from this book is: "Some should question not why these men fought but why they stayed" The book talks about the Generals and there foolish plans, the battles and the many, many lost lives.If you go back even further this war was a continuation of the Fraco-Prussian war and why after the Allies won, Germany paid such a high price. It was to be such a mistake that because of that, people from the Right were able to take control of the country, the Nazis. This book deals with that as well and it's not a dry telling of the war but it has many details. It's not an easy read but if you apply yourself and are interested it you will come out knowing more, almost everything about the Great War.