Customer Reviews

An Illustrated History of the First World War

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Like many people of my age, my great grandfather was killed in the First World War and I have become increasingly interested in finding out more about the conflict and the circumstances which led to it. A subject like this is difficult to encapsulate, particularly given the complexity and far reaching nature of the war. I found this book by accident, but was attracted initially by it's format and layout, with a good balance of narrative, artwork, maps and photographs. I am delighted to say that the content of the book more than lived up to it's presentation and I found it extremely easy to read. The author displays complete control of the subject matter and his enthusiasm for his writing shows. My only slight criticism would be the lack of maps relating to some of the events on the Eastern Front, Balkan States and Italy, which at times made the narrative difficult to follow. The ultimate success of this book for me is that it has spurred me onto reading further on the subject. I would thoroughly recommend this book.

This is an excellent book for anyone wanting to know the details of The Great War. It has a nonstop plethora of pictures which take you through the entire war from the assassination of the Archduke to final day of fighting. The book can be very detailed, describing or showing troop movements, horrific battle conditions, and casualty reports. None of the major battles are overlooked. Mention is also made to the fact that most countries were unprepared for 20th century warfare. Major personalities are profiled in special pages of the book including the famous Red Baron. Not limited to just Europe, Keegan describes the war elsewhere in the world including Africa and in the Pacific theatre. War in the air is discussed including a special section on dirigibles and airplanes. A must read for the serious student of WW I.

I find this a very balanced work, covering different aspects of the Great War. It is very detailed and presents excellent photographs. However, one gets indeed lost in the detailed descriptions of the different battle scenes. It is very difficult for the reader to visualise those battles, because you are confronted with pages and pages describing all the troop movements in great detail, but without the support of small maps. That really is a pity, for otherwise this is an excellent book.

My grandfather served overseas during World War I, and years later died as a result of lung injuries sustained during those terrifying days. Many historians refute the atrocities of the Germans in Belgium; however, since my grandfather served for a time in Belgium, he knew first-hand that these stories of horror did in fact happen. The writing style is slightly dry in parts; however, the author has given a factual account of the events during this time period and has obviously completed much in-depth research. So many accounts of both World War I and II appear to be a duplication of someone else's research, and this is not the case with John Keegan. He has unearthed many facts that other author's failed to do. This is a book history buffs will not want to miss.

I have written a lengthier, critical review of Keegan's minimally-illustrated "The First World War", which needs summarizing here in part because the text of that earlier book is essentially reproduced here. There is little point in owning both.

My complaints about the earlier book remain unappeased, but this illustrated edition at least provides a comprehensive visual sense of the Great War. Its inherited failings, in my opinion, are a duo:

(1) Very limited use of maps, either geographic or battlefield, coupled with extensive, extremely detailed descriptions of the geography and movements of battles. This will leave all but the student of the war skimming names and places that float disconnectedly in a vague, abstracted geographic space; somewhat similar to the way one reads an old Russian novel in which the blur of Raskalnikovovitches is cured only by a geneology. This book, illustrated or not, includes only the same, sparse count of 15 maps as the earlier text.

(2) Essentially no attention to the world beyond the battlefield. Keegan introduces his text with a decent description of the diplomatic flounderings that preceded the war, and also makes a sound case that military prerogatives propelled the early months' movement toward stalemate. But one does not get the sense that actual governments or peoples were anything other than bystanders to this war. Perhaps this is, indeed, the case, but I imagine a social or political historian would differ. This book remains a "Military" history, illustrated or not.

These flaws earned the earlier book only two stars. The additional one I propose for this volume is earned by the extensive illustration. In a Technicolor world of laser-guided, night-sighting weaponry, it is easy to bury "the old world" in black and white portraits of kings and tsars. This book suffers from having a few too many of those, but its solid selection of looking-you-in-the-eye soldiers, mud-at-your-ankles trench-shots and even the apparently scarce photos of battle-in-progress brings the gritty reality of this war to reality; black-and-white or not.

The illustrations are often only loosely associated with the chronology of the text - rarely could the text actually ask you, for instance, to "see figure 1" - which illustration shared the page and enhanced the text. This, of course, reflects the fact that the book is a bit of a "paste-up" - the illustrations were pretty much inserted into the pre-existing text. Furthermore, the body of illustrations seems needlessly padded with old shots of generals and leaders. Keegan (presuming he actually selected the photos and other illustrations), seems to have only casually pulled from the vast archive of period photos. The actual text would have been much enhanced by a more careful (albeit time-consuming) process of photo-selection that does not seem to have taken place. (It's actually more than likely that Keegan did not select the illustrations at all. He seems to have become a bit of "an industry" in the military history publishing business. Search on his name and you will find dozens of listings where he has been called upon to edit this or that or to write an introduction to someone else's work.) One imagines a very busy junior editor at work with these photos. Perhaps I'm too cynical - in which case credit Keegan with an only mediocre sense of the uses of illustration.

The book is enhanced, but also interrupted, in a sense, by short thematic groupings of photos and associated text such as "Communications" and "Military Medicine." These are interesting in their own right, but also highlight the fundamental problem of this book - it cannot be read in any fluid sense. The illustrations persistently call one away from a careful reading of the text but the illustrations alone do not come close to telling a coherent story. I found myself flipping ahead looking at photos and reading their supporting text and then backing up and reading only the text.

I remain unsatisfied by either Keegan book and will aim my search toward the few "atlases" of the War available for mapped military history and for less battle-focused texts to tell the whole story. Maybe recognizing that two or even three good books are needed here is at the core of my critique of this one, which tries to be more than it is. It remains for you to decide what you wish to own.

This is a very impressive coffee-table volume suitable for browsing or also as a great cover-to-cover read. The book does a great job of setting up the brewing tensions in 1914 that caused pandemonium on all sides. I have long read legions of works on WWII but have not read much on the first war beyond standard accounts such as "All Quiet on the Western Front." For a beginning study of WWI history this book is great, and the reader can clearly grasp all the issues and see how the same causes directly to the even greater pandemonioum of WWII. As the book progresses into accounts of the combat on the various fronts, the writing gets a little plodding to follow at times. But it is still accessible. The maps and photographs are first-rate and quite impressive. There are also numerous insets with brief sidebars on topics such as propaganda posters, women in the factories, etc., that allow the book to serve as a genuine coffee-table book that someone can just pick up for twenty minutes.
This is the type of expensive book that makes it worthwhile to join a low-committment book club such as History Book Club, where you get 4 or 5 books for $1 each and agree to buy one more at regular price and then just cancel. You can generally find enough excellent expensive books like this that can count as only one choice for the introductory $1 and make it well worthwhile to join, rather than shelling out $35 - $50.

I tried to slog through this book, but gave up after 100 pages. There is just a dizzying amount of detail that Keegan assumes you know already. There are countless names of generals and commanders and battlefields with hardly any maps (amazing since this is an "Illustrated" history!) You can't see the forest for the trees.

If you have a PhD in history this might be the book for you, otherwise skip it.

This large format coffee table book of WWI is an excellent study of mainly the battles of WWI. It's easy to forget that the time period of 1914-1918 saw a significant amount of diverse media still in use. Photography was still relatively new, and paintings were still being done to document major events. This war saw an increase in advertising propaganda being used by both sides to sway civilian populations. Keegan provides great examples of all types of media used to document the war, and his text is especially good for those interested in the battles and placement of troops. Maps showing the lines of battle and their expected (though often not realized) targets help to guide the reader.

This book was specifically designed for the above purpose, so those readers who are looking for an explanation as to why the world was plunged into chaos over the murder of an Austrian archduke in Serbia would be better served to go to other books. But for those people interested in the battles, and the visual media that came from this war, this is a useful addition to the huge amount of information available on WWI.

Karen Sadler

The book I ordered was exactly as described in the ad, so no complaints there. More importantly, it was sent to me in a very timely manner, only a couple days, and still arrived in time for the holidays. As for the content, it was a gift for someone, so I can't be entirely certain of the book's quality, but the vendor did a great job.

I bought this book when the author was going to be giving an address on the reopening of the World War I memorial in Kansas City. Unfortunately illness caused cancellation of the event but meanwhile I had bought his book and found it a wonderful resource and overview. My grandfather having been an infantry officer killed in the final days of the war has always had me interested in learning more about the causes and execution of the war. This book added to my knowledge and I can highly recommend it both for its pictures and more for its detailed history of the War. The new museum in Kansas City is well worth a visit if you are in the area and this book will help understand the many great exhibits you would see there.