The First World War (Very Short Introductions) [Hardcover]

Michael Howard (Author)

Book Description

Series: Very Short Introductions | Publication Date: July 11, 2002

Now more than ever, a clear historical understanding of the conflicts that have engulfed the world is essential. In The First World War, one of the most respected historians of his generation offers a brief but hugely readable narrative account of WWI, its causes and consequences, and the many historical controversies surrounding the origin and conduct of the war.
Karl von Clausewitz wrote that war is a trinity composed of the policy of the government, the activities of the military, and the passions of the people. Michael Howard argues that "each of these must be taken into account if we are to understand both why the war happened and why it took the course it did." In nine brisk chapters, Howard lays out the historical situation in Europe in 1914, the dispositions of the major belligerents prior to the war, the causes of war, the major campaigns, the entrance of the United States, the crisis, victory, and settlement of the war. Along the way, he offers compelling insights into the political motivations, military actions, and the "passions of the people" that contributed most strongly to the outcome of the war.
There is no other short history of WWI on the market today written by a historian of Michael Howard's stature. For anyone wishing to gain a quick but authoritative understanding of one of the most crucial events of the twentieth century, The First World War is the best place to begin.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

A distinguished British historian presents the central events of World War I for readers who are curious but unknowledgeable about the conflict. It is comparable in style to the author's recent The Invention of Peace (2001). Succinctly expressive, Howard's style concentrates narrative and interpretation within a few sentences, but a deep historical controversy often lurks behind his concision, such as who was responsible for igniting the war. For those readers who are incredulous that a global conflagration could erupt from an assassination, Howard summarizes how the alliance systems came about, the fears of the nations that contracted them, and the special resentments of a German monarch who embodied "archaic militarism, vaulting ambition, and neurotic insecurity." Just as perplexing, perhaps, is the continuance for four years of trench warfare; once again, Howard compactly explains the slight alterations in tactics that generals believed would achieve a breakthrough, but produced instead the bloodbaths that by 1917-18 broke armies and entire regimes. Also touching on the war's course in Italy and Eastern Europe, Howard elegantly applies his erudition and judgment to this concise introduction. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"An esteemed historian, Howard expertly and succinctly summarizes the Great War for the layperson.... Over the next decade, as we approach the centennial of this war, there will be a raft of books and documentaries. This volume is an excellent way to get a grounding in this momentous subject."--Forbes Magazine

"The best concise introduction to and overview of World War I."--Military Heritage

"Howard wraps up the entire war in 147 lucid pages.... For someone who is just starting to explore the war, Howard's book is the place to begin."--Weekly Standard

"A concise, credible, lucid account of the causes, battles, politics, and consequences of the Great War. Howard compresses a mass of material, theory, and argument. His ambition, he states, is merely to introduce. But he does far more; he also engages and educates.... Demonstrates with clarity, craft, and precision that even in scholarship less can be more."--Kirkus Reviews

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (July 11, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0192853627
• ISBN-13: 978-0192853622
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #691,156 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very good introduction, October 23, 2002

By A Customer

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This review is from: The First World War (Very Short Introductions) (Hardcover)

This book is a quite good very brief introduction to World War I. All aspects are covered, though concetration is on military events viewed from a high strategic level. Thus, only about a page is spent on the Battle of the Marne and surrounding events, but the reader is made aware of the basic movements and their importance. And, in one paragraph, the author conveys a better feel for the ebb and flow on the eastern front in 1914 than usually happens in more detailed histories. One is never going to lose sight of the forest for the trees in this book! There are spare but useful maps, some photographs, and a table of casualty figures. There are a few misprints, and some awkward syntax on occasion. Also, from a style viewpoint, I felt the author overused the phrase "as we have seen". But those are minor quibbles about an overall excellent book.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great summary, July 9, 2004

By 

Stephen Balbach (Ashton, MD United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The First World War (Paperback)

I was suprised when the book arrived because not only is it just 170 pages, but the book is the size of a paperback so it's really almost an extended essay in length. A few nice pictures add atmosphere and some maps although they don't show every place refrenced in the text, but do show places not refrenced so that could have been better.

I have never read WWI history but known a lot from popular culure. I knew about certain broad themes like the domino effect of alliances but overall it seemed like a highly complex and boring war. Yet I also knew this war was vital to understanding such things as the origins of WWII, the origins of the middle east conflicts, nationalism. The origins of the modern age.

Imagine knowing a subject so well you could write an encyclopedia that had to be condensed down to a long essay. Michael Howard does this with incredible skill, because of the limiting length every sentence is a pure nugget of insight he makes no waste of the space provided. The major points of military, social and political are covered allowing one to see the entire war from start to finish in very short order and without spending months trumping through the trenches of detail and anecdote one might find in more lengthy or specific books.

I rate this book highly because it did exactly what I was hopeing for. A short easy to read high level overview of the war to provide a spring board to read more areas in detail in the future and to understand the war in relation to other larger historical forces.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you don't have time and yet want to know..., August 10, 2002

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Thy Yem (Madison, AL United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The First World War (Very Short Introductions) (Hardcover)

The book is small and very short. That means it cannot discuss things in details, and thus one cannot expect to be an expert by reading it.

The book does explain most of the major events, all very briefly, all very well.