The World War One Source Book [Paperback]

Philip J. Haythornthwaite (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1996

Provides the facts, figures and guidance about World War I required by students of all levels. The book features each nation involved, all battles and campaigns, the weaponry and the commanders, and is arranged in an easy-access, highly-illustrated format.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In this volume, the third in Arms & Armour's "Source Book" series of reference books on military topics, four major sections on World War I cover, respectively, weapons, front histories by year, national histories, and biographies. In addition, shorter sections contain anecdotal and tabular material. The book is nicely illustrated, though some of its space could have been used more productively for more maps; the ones included are good but often cluttered. The quality and accessibility of textual information are very good. Most reference collections could use help with World War I, and this title will handle most general questions.
- Fritz Buckallew, Univ. of Central Oklahoma Lib., Edmond
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Philip J Haythornthwaite is known to all followers of matters Napoleonic as a prolific and knowledgeable source of original research. A one time bookseller, he has an extensive private collection of Napoleonic material and is the a

Product Details

• Paperback: 412 pages
• Publisher: Arms & Armour (August 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1854093517
• ISBN-13: 978-1854093516
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,366,261 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Just shy of everything you need to know about WWI, January 19, 2000

By 

David Bonine - See all my reviews

This review is from: The World War One Source Book (Paperback)

This is a pretty good book, with a lot of details on how the war was fought itself, on all the fronts. It's the only book I know of that tells of every single nation's involvement, like for example: Brazil. Brazil didn't do a whole lot for the war effort, but apparantly it did enough to get a place in the book. The maps are sorta tricky to understand, and a few more would have made the book a little better. If you like World War I, then this wouldn't be a bad book to buy, Haythornthwaite is one of my favorite historical authors.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The "go-to" book for almost anything about the Great War, April 25, 2010

By 

Michael K. Smith (South Louisiana) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The World War One Source Book (Hardcover)

People of my generation, born during or immediately after World War II have tended not to know a lot about the Great War; its successor simply loomed too large in our experience and that of our parents. (Readers under thirty tend to think of Vietnam as ancient history.) Also, World War I had no clearly defined set of causes, only a hazy termination, and very few set-piece battles or campaigns. This excellent resource work should cure most of those problems for the reader willing to take the time to absorb it. There are five major sections plus a couple of shorter addenda, each of which can be dipped into for browsing, consulted for a reference question, or simply read straight through. "History of the War" is just what it says: a sixty-page historical and geographical narrative with lots of maps which is an excellent summary of the whole conflict, from Sarajevo to the Armistice. "Weapons and Tactics" will be the meat of the book for many readers, with detailed discussions of rifles in use by various nations, the role of sniping, the advent of the machine gun, and so on. "The Warring Nations" covers each of the sixty-odd countries and colonies that took part, at least on paper. Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Turkey, and the U.S. have the longest sections, naturally, but you'll also find here Lithuania, Brazil, India, Persia, Luxemburg, and Siam. (Siam?) Each of these articles summarizes the country's political situation on the eve of the war, its participation, active or otherwise, and what happened to it afterwards. Then there's "Biographies," which offers short sketches of forty-six key figures on all sides of the war. "Sources" is not only an excellent bibliography for further reading, it includes lists of literature that came out of the war, plus art and photography. A miscellaneous section discusses rations, prize money, and some other odds and ends, and a very good glossary of technical jargon and military slang rounds things out. Footnotes appear throughout, especially to the scattered quotations and excerpts from original sources, and every single article and sketch includes a list of "References" which by themselves are almost worth the not-high price of the book. If you feel a gap in your grasp of the political and military history of the first "war that changed everything," this is the place to start. Highly recommended.

5.0 out of 5 stars An epic book on World War I, August 13, 2000

By 

Shawn Smith (Cumberland Gap, TN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The World War One Source Book (Paperback)

The book has everything you need in order to understand all aspects of the war. The first part reviews the campaigns, naval operations, casualty lists, and chronology of the different fronts. The second part reviews the weapons and tactics from both sides. And, the third part, which is truly amazing, the author gives detailled reports on all the nations involved. The author obviously spent a great amount of time researching all the information required for the novel. The novel should be highly recommended for anyone interested in this dark period of our history.