The Great War

In light of the great heavy tomes that have been written on just single years, battles or personalities of World War I, it is amazing that the entire conflict can be summarized in a few hundred photo-heavy pages. But that is exactly what Corelli Barnett has done in this volume. The book manages to do this without leaving out anything of significance, though some sections may leave you gasping for detail. Or, you may find yourself wondering what all those other great tomes actually contain. For example, I have read two single volume histories of the Battle of Jutland. Barnett here covers it in just 4 pages...but going over it, it is hard to say he has not related the tale. He describes the strategic situation, how the Germans technically capable but small fleet was bottled up in the North Sea and the consequences of the blockade. He describes Scheer's strategy to draw out and destroy the British fleet in small parts, how it seemed to be working when Hipper's battlecruiseres staged a running duel with Beatty's squadron that brought them into range of Scheer's main task force, and then the continuation as the German's pursued Beatty back to the main British fleet. And so on...all the manuevers are covered, as are the strategic consequences. So what are you missing by reading Barnett's short account? You miss the history of the two fleet's developement's, the personalities of their creators (Fisher and Tirpitz), and their commanders (cautious Jellicoe, flamboyant Beatty, etc.) In the end, you may not care if you miss the tiny details of each ship and squadron, the exact tracks of the squadrons or the damage reports, unless you are a real naval history junkie. And so goes the whole book. It makes marvelous quick reading to introduce one to the subject or to remind yourself how the pieces fit together. It would probably be a great first history for a precocious child as well. I'm glad I have it on my bookcase as a quick reference to the overall sequence of the war...almost an index. So the book is highly recommended, if you do not expect a definitive, in-depth history. 4.5 stars.

This is a great one volume overview of WWI. I couldn't hardly put it down once I started reading it. If you're looking for one good book about the war for your collection, I suggest this one.

This is a good overview of the First World War, including information on the various theaters. John Terraine writes beautifully, and includes interesting evaluations on events and leaders. He also describes the nature of the war from the common soldiers' points of view. Very noteworthy are the many fascinating pictures, many of which do not appear to have been published in many other books. A good complement to this history is the more recent First World War by John Keegan.