Strachan (modern history, Univ. of Glasgow; The Politics of the British Army, Oxford Univ., 1997), most familiar from his work in the London Times, has collected a remarkable series of essays on a variety of issues raised by the Great War. Although the essays are often difficult to read without a deep understanding of the period, they illuminate complex and often misunderstood territory. Gail Braybon's take on women's roles enormously complicates the idea of women as a monolithic class. Strachan's economic approach to mobilization and B.J. McKercher's discussion of economic warfare considerably expand and complement the more familiar tactical and strategic summaries. Many of the essayists take care to place the greatest event of that generation in the context of future events, both in the tactical and in the larger social sphere.