A good comprehensive study of the Great War in East Africa - not "Africa" as the sub-title suggests. Paice only touches briefly on the war in other parts of the continent. It makes interesting reading. Although it is mainly a book about Europeans, Paice includes some discussion on the effects of the war on the indigenous populations, and has taken the trouble to interview one of the last African survivors.

The book would be easier to read if the maps were more comprehensive, and if the text gave some hint as to which map was relevant at which point. I found myself constantly having to leaf through several of the maps, turning the book sideways and scanning names in small print, to find which one we had now reverted to. Some locations referred to in the text did not seem to appear in any map. I know most of the areas in which the action took place - I can imagine it would be even more difficult for a reader who doesn't. At least one typographical error in which the author got his compass directions mixed up made it more difficult and, when desperately searching for some obscure place on the map, made one wonder whether there was another error. ( )