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As readers familiar with John Keegan's previous books, such as the The Face of Battle, Six Armies in Normandy, and The Second World War, will know, Keegan is a historian of the old school. He has no earth-shattering new theories to challenge the status quo, no first-person accounts to tug on the emotions; what he does have, though, is the gift for talking the lay person through the twists and turns of a complex narrative in a way that is never less than accessible or engaging.
Keegan never tries to ram his learning down your throat. Where other authors have struggled to explain how Britain could ever allow itself to be dragged into such a war in 1914, Keegan keeps it practical. The level of communications that we enjoy today just didn't exist then, and so it was much harder to keep track of what was going on. By the time a message had finally reached the person in question, the situation may have changed out of all recognition.
Keegan applies this same "cock-up" theory of history to the rest of the war, principally the three great disasters at Gallipoli, the Somme, and Passchendaele. The generals didn't send all those troops to their death deliberately; they did so out of incompetence, ineptitude, and because they had no idea of what was actually going on at the front. Whether deliberate or not, though, the end result was nearly one million dead British and Commonwealth soldiers.
The First World War is not afraid to point the finger at those generals who deserve it, but even Keegan has to admit he doesn't have all the answers. If it all seems so obviously futile and such a massive waste of life now, he asks, how could it have seemed worthwhile back then? Why did so many people carry on, knowing they would die? Why indeed. --John Crace
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. A major work by our greatest military historian, acclaimed as the definitive history of the First World War, the conflict that shaped the twentieth century.The definitive account of the Great War and a national bestseller from eminent military historian John Keegan2018 marks the centenary of the First World War - the war that created the modern world. It destroyed a century of relative peace and prosperity and saw a continent at the height of its success descend into slaughter. It unleashed both the demons of the twentieth century - political hatred, military destruction and mass death - and the ideas which continue to shape our world today- modernism in the arts, new approaches to psychology and medicine, and radical ideas about economics and society.By the end of the war, three great empires - the Austro-Hungarian, the Russian and the Ottoman - had collapsed. But as Keegan expertly shows, the devastation extended over the entirety over Europe and still profoundly informs the politics and culture of the continent today. Pertinent, authoritative and gripping, this panoramic account of WW1 is regarded as a world history classic.'The best and most approachable introduction to the war' Guardian'Nobody describes a battle as Keegan does, vividly relating the unfolding events to the contours of the field of combat. This book is a kind of war memorial. As first-hand memory fades, The First World War honours the dead as only true history can' Sunday Times The definitive account of the Great War and a national bestseller from eminent military historian John Keegan2018 marks the centenary of the First World War the war that created the modern world. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9781847922984
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Book Description Condition: New. The First World War created the modern world. It destroyed a century of relative peace and prosperity and saw a continent at the height of its success descend into slaughter. This book offers an account that portrays the unfolding military conflict on land, sea and in the air. Num Pages: 512 pages. BIC Classification: 3JJF; HBG; HBLW; HBWN. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 233 x 153 x 39. Weight in Grams: 724. . 2014. Paperback. . . . . Seller Inventory # V9781847922984
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Book Description Paperback / softback. Condition: New. New copy - Usually dispatched within 4 working days. The First World War created the modern world.It unleashed both the demons of the twentieth century - political hatred, military destruction and mass death - and the ideas which continue to shape our world today: mdoernism in the arts, new approaches to psychology and medecine, and radical ideas about economics and society. Seller Inventory # B9781847922984
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