Very thorough and full of detail though lacking that extra little bit. ( )

It is astonishing how much data Keegan has packed into such a comparatively short book. No part of the fighting that took place between 1914 and 1918 is overlooked. He describes the battles with excellent detail but avoids political comments about the generals who butchered so many soldiers. This is not anti-war stuff but rather just a carefully crafted report on what happened. ( )

An excellent one-book overview of the First World War, at the strategic level. Although I've had these topics before in various classes, having one chronological history to pull this together was helpful. Professor Keegan covers the war both in Europe and abroad in full - giving credit where it is due - the major campaigns, and yes, the disasters. The invocation of the Somme in particular is great in its awfulness, while the slow disintegration of the will to fight is so readily apparent.

The one lack - and an understandable one - is due to its scope it cannot concentrate on any one unit or group for long: at best, a passing acquaintance with the generals is the most personal this reaches. However, from here it's easy to find more specific history to touch what you're interested in. ( )

Millions of people died and entire generations were bled white by the first World War. Why and how this happened is the subject of Keegan's book. It discusses the strategies, logistics and politics of conducting the war in fascinating detail. It is a very readable book on a vast topic. Keegan corrects popular misconceptions about the Schlieffen plan and the effects of trench warfare on troop morale for all combatants. Definitely a must read. ( )

In a riveting narrative that puts diaries, letters and action reports to good use, British military historian Keegan (The Face of Battle, etc.) delivers a vivid history of the Great War. He is equally at ease (and equally generous and sympathetic) probing the hearts and minds of lowly soldiers in the trenches or examining the thoughts and motivations of leaders (such as Joffre, Haig and Hindenburg) who directed the maelstrom. In the end, Keegan leaves us with a brilliant, panoramic portrait of an epic struggle that was at once noble and futile, world-shaking and pathetic. The war was unnecessary, Keegan writes, because the train of events that led to it could have been derailed at any time, "had prudence or common goodwill found a voice." And it was tragic, consigning 10 million to their graves, destroying "the benevolent and optimistic culture" of Europe and sowing the seeds of WWII. While Niall Ferguson's The Pity of War offers a revisionist, economic interpretation of the causes of WWI, Keegan stands impressively mute before the unanswerable question he poses: "Why did a prosperous continent, at the height of its success as a source and agent of global wealth and power and at one of the peaks of its intellectual and cultural achievement, choose to risk all it had won for itself and all it offered to the world in the lottery of a vicious and local internecine conflict?"