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

by Michael Howard (Author) "Since the Great War of 1914-18 was fought on all the oceans of the world and ultimately involved belligerents from every continent, it can justifiably..." (more)
Key Phrases: high seas fleet, United States, High Command, Western Front (more...)

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; illustrated edition edition (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: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #508,786 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

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

By A Customer

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:

2.0 out of 5 stars Look to Keegan et al. & Invest more time for more substance, September 6, 2004

By	tendays komyathy (U.S.A. & elsewhere traveling) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: The First World War (Paperback)

A decent summary, even concise; a basic introduction to the conflagration that is referred to as the First World War. As others have stated, this book is all three, but at the same time is superficial, pedestrian, and lacking in originality. For example: "Since the Great War of 1914-1918 was fought on all the oceans of the world and ultimately involved belligerents from every continent, it can justifiably be termed a "world war". But it was certainly not the first. European powers had been fighting each other all over the globe for the previous 300 years." Those are the opening sentences in this short hardcover book of 143 (junior-sized) pages. This book has 7 very simple maps; basically of various maps of Europe at this time, with almost nothing in detail of the battle lines of the conflict. The author repeatedly mentions lines of defense & areas of attack, but offers no aids herein regarding maps and/or description. What you get from reading this work is not, in short, much better than what you'd get from a fairly decent encyclopedia treatment; and at least there you'd get a few color battle maps instead of the ink lines that suffice in this work. Yes, this volume is billed as "A very short introduction"; I acknowledge that, and with the limitations that implies. I just don't see why one would choose this selection; of, in effect, rice cakes simply because you may not be interested in having a heavy meal. My recommendation thus is to look to John Keegan or others for more value, substance, and insight concerning the "Great War". Cheers!

9 of 11 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 (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.