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4.35 AVERAGE
4.35 AVERAGE
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Magnificently readable, this account of the first World War explores and explains many of the generalities while also taking the time to dive deeper into specific events, moments, and figures. Despite the repetition of the war's patterns, this book itself seldom becomes monotonous, and segues shift attention smoothly to and from points of interest.
I can't praise this work highly enough. It's a lengthy undertaking, over 700 pages, but so accessible and filled with information.
I can't praise this work highly enough. It's a lengthy undertaking, over 700 pages, but so accessible and filled with information.
Good history of the first world war balances the politicians and the generals with descriptions of the trenches. Some great man stuff and some trench warfare stuff. It is fairly standard on the topic. Not bad.
I found this book to be a very well done overview of the entirety off the first world war. Although if I didn’t already have an acquaintance with the major event and players, it may have been a tougher slog. I’ve been a follower of the Youtube channel, The Great War, which follows the war in amazing detail, week by week, exactly 100 years later. Also, about a year prior I had listened to Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History Podcast series, Blueprint for Armageddon for the second time. Carlin’s style of presenting history is much more suited for someone without any background to the events. So I am glad I had this series in my memory before starting this book. After reading A World Undone, it’s quite apparent that Dan Carlin used this book as a major reference for Blueprint for Armageddon, as many of the quotes and anecdotes were familiar to me.
WWI is tough for the layperson to get a general sense of the extremely convoluted and complex story of the war. While it’s sequel, WWII has a much more accessible, dramatic and even cinematic quality when its read as a story. A World Undone does it’s best and succeeds to make the story of First World War a page-turner. While many other war explanations get bogged down in the details of which division did what and where, author G. J Meyer avoids the tedium of tactical details without omitting them. While giving the reader (or listener in my case) respite by including “Background” chapters to briefly explain the history of certain peoples, events, places, nations and major characters.
My one criticism would have been to include more information about the ending of the war itself and to have more explanation of the Treaty of Versailles and the reaction to the armistice in the warring countries.
WWI is tough for the layperson to get a general sense of the extremely convoluted and complex story of the war. While it’s sequel, WWII has a much more accessible, dramatic and even cinematic quality when its read as a story. A World Undone does it’s best and succeeds to make the story of First World War a page-turner. While many other war explanations get bogged down in the details of which division did what and where, author G. J Meyer avoids the tedium of tactical details without omitting them. While giving the reader (or listener in my case) respite by including “Background” chapters to briefly explain the history of certain peoples, events, places, nations and major characters.
My one criticism would have been to include more information about the ending of the war itself and to have more explanation of the Treaty of Versailles and the reaction to the armistice in the warring countries.
This is the first book I've read on World War I. Part One, on the events leading up to the war, is brilliant. When I finished the book I went back and re-read that part. The rest of the book is also very good, but a bit more tedious as names and dates begin to run together. After each chapter in the history is a short background section, which adds a great deal to the book. Part one contains background sections on all of the major nations and empires that had a part in the start of the war (Austria-Hungary, Serbia, Germany, Russia, and even the Ottoman Empire, which did not play a direct role, but whose decline created the power vacuum in the Balkans that led to the conflict between Austria and Serbia). The only issue I had with the author's analysis was a continuous pattern of describing the generals on both sides as incompetent, and giving examples of how easily they could have earned a victory if they had only done this or that. I am sure if we could ask those generals they would have a very good reason for not doing this or that, and what may seem obvious in retrospect was probably not at al clear at the time. i also would have liked more maps to visuals the battles. But I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about the events that shaped the rest of the twentieth century.
5 stars because it was so friggin thorough and I learned a lot. It took me a year to finish it though.
challenging
sad
tense
slow-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
medium-paced
Quick: Name something you know about World War I. I bet it was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, wasn't it? It was for me anyway. That's why I wanted to read this book: to learn more about World War I and how it went from assassination of a public official to an all out war with guns, tanks, bombs, and death.
This book perfectly explains how that happened. He writes about the build-up to the war and how all of this could have been averted if world leaders had simply just talked to each other. He covers all of the bases and then some: all of the major battles, all of the various generals and ministers of Defense, battle tactics, and how the people back home were coping. I can say that I learned quite a bit from this book. For example, I had no idea that Winston Churchill had a big hand in developing tanks, and that tanks didn't exist at the start of the war. The book also covers, albeit briefly, the genocide of the Armenians, and antisemitism that was prevalent way before Hitler came to power. Hitler himself is here, too: because he served as a lowly enlisted soldier in this war and was decorated for saving the lives of a couple of his colleagues.
The author, GJ Meyer, neatly assembled the book in chronological order, beginning with the assassination and the attempts to stop the war by peaceful options, and then the opening rounds of the war. He covers each year of the war and the decisions made by the officers and world leaders, and the various battles, moving carefully from one to the next, all the way up to the armistice agreement in 1918 and eventually, the Treaty of Versailles which ended the war and punished Germany for their role. This all could have been very dry and boring, but the author doesn't do that; I found this book to be enlightening, and an engaging read which kept me wondering.
I plan to read more about the build-up to WWII and the period between the two wars; I only hope that other books on these subjects are as well written as this is.
This book perfectly explains how that happened. He writes about the build-up to the war and how all of this could have been averted if world leaders had simply just talked to each other. He covers all of the bases and then some: all of the major battles, all of the various generals and ministers of Defense, battle tactics, and how the people back home were coping. I can say that I learned quite a bit from this book. For example, I had no idea that Winston Churchill had a big hand in developing tanks, and that tanks didn't exist at the start of the war. The book also covers, albeit briefly, the genocide of the Armenians, and antisemitism that was prevalent way before Hitler came to power. Hitler himself is here, too: because he served as a lowly enlisted soldier in this war and was decorated for saving the lives of a couple of his colleagues.
The author, GJ Meyer, neatly assembled the book in chronological order, beginning with the assassination and the attempts to stop the war by peaceful options, and then the opening rounds of the war. He covers each year of the war and the decisions made by the officers and world leaders, and the various battles, moving carefully from one to the next, all the way up to the armistice agreement in 1918 and eventually, the Treaty of Versailles which ended the war and punished Germany for their role. This all could have been very dry and boring, but the author doesn't do that; I found this book to be enlightening, and an engaging read which kept me wondering.
I plan to read more about the build-up to WWII and the period between the two wars; I only hope that other books on these subjects are as well written as this is.