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A review by pradhyumnan
The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914 by Christopher Clark
4.0
Earlier this year, I finished reading The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer which was pretty straightforward in how Germany dragged Europe into war. The popular phrase "Hitler invaded Poland!" while not completely encapsulating of everything preceding it, is a pithy smoking gun.
One thing was clear pretty early on, that the second World War was a direct consequence of the first, but it wasn't as cut and dry as to what exactly triggered it, even though everyone agreed the Sarajevo murders played an important role. The other history book I read early this year was A Brief History of the World by HG Wells which ignored the reasons that engendered the Great War, saying those were out of the scope for his book which only added to my frustration. The common sentiment suggested it would take an entire book to explain how Europe went to war in 1914, and I agree now that I've read The Sleepwalkers. This book is narrative history at its best, and Christopher Clark sprinkles the narration with a healthy dose of humour. I can't go into detail about how Europe went to war in 1914 in this review, because it would take an entire book to do so!
One thing was clear pretty early on, that the second World War was a direct consequence of the first, but it wasn't as cut and dry as to what exactly triggered it, even though everyone agreed the Sarajevo murders played an important role. The other history book I read early this year was A Brief History of the World by HG Wells which ignored the reasons that engendered the Great War, saying those were out of the scope for his book which only added to my frustration. The common sentiment suggested it would take an entire book to explain how Europe went to war in 1914, and I agree now that I've read The Sleepwalkers. This book is narrative history at its best, and Christopher Clark sprinkles the narration with a healthy dose of humour. I can't go into detail about how Europe went to war in 1914 in this review, because it would take an entire book to do so!