The First World War: Volume I: To Arms

This book was released in 2001 as the first in a three part series. Eighteen years later neither of the last two parts have been released so your guess is as good as mine as to whether we will see either-note that the author is 69. Bad news out of the way the good news is that this is perhaps the most fairly current, well researched and written, comprehensive survey of WW I (the early part anyway) available. Warning, not for the faint of heart, the Amazon typical read time for this 1234 page book is 39 hours and 5 minutes. Lets break it down by sections:intro/maps/lead up/social conditions>11% of the book>well done, comprehensive survey of events leading to the war, the Balkans, African crisis, festering resentments from the French, trade rivalry with the Brits, clumsy German diplomacy-its all there.western front>7% of the book> surprisingly brief but thorough treatment of what is considered the main theater of the war. It's got maps but on an ereader they're barely readable. For tactical buffs with their own maps there is enough written detail to do table top reenactments.eastern front>5% of the book>ditto above for the secondary theater.northern naval operations>5% of the book>more strategic overview and less tactical detail than land campaigns probably because there were not that many actions aside from British blockade patrolling.Pacific operations>3% of the book>often ignored theater that showed the British navy may have had its best days behind it as it bumbled a modest threat into a major resource drain.African operations>9% of the book>fascinating/occasionally excruciating detail that sharpened up my vague knowledge of the theater-the author suggests that German General Paul von Lettow-Vorbek's fabled guerrilla warfare against overwhelming British forces may may have had other elements besides his skill in play. Again all the detail you table toppers need.Turkish/global operations>10% of the book>covers all the Islamic elements and one of my favorite parts done in fine detail, the North African operations against the French and Italians.financing the war>11% of the book>explains how the world went to hell financially while everybody was so busy killing each other. I would have liked to see more charts and fewer paragraphs stuffed with multi-year industrial output comparisons of the combatants which are even more boring than the charts, trust me.industrial mobilization>8% of the book>It is amazing how all the parties involved found ways to beg, buy, make or steal what they needed to sustain intense conflict over such an extended time. Same thoughts as above on charts versus trying to present it all in paragraph form.vague intellectual musing about the war finished off the main body>I% of the book> intellectual vaporing and political butt covering, fast forward for me.bibliography>30% of the book>while Hew Strachan has written only 16 books in 44 years of writing, they are exquisitely detailed and that suggests that he probably has read many of the books in this very extensive bibliography.It would be easy to find a shorter book on the subject but difficult to find a better one. For me, the best parts were when he made 'big picture' observations that put a lot of things into perspective that other reads didn't.$17.04/book price divided by Amazon typical read time of 39 hours, 5 minutes = $.44/average hourly reading cost

This is the product of a rare combination of meticulous scholarship ,deep intellect and a lifetime of study of the subject. If one wants to read only one book on the First World War this is it with the caveat that it is unfinished yet.It covers all the world and not only Europe as most books on the subject do but for different war periods. For example the Eastern and Western fronts are covered for the year 1914 only,the war in the Pasific until 1917 ,Industrial Mobilasation until 1916 and so on.On the origins of the War Prof Strachan offers the balanced view that while Germany and A-H bear most of the primary responsibility,acts and omissions of the other Great Powers led also to the collapse of German Weltpolitik and the choice of War. The great thing in his analysis is that it covers critically and profoundly every aspect in 160 pages and leaves the reader to draw his own conclusions.To give an example of the elegant austerity of his thinking I copy the following:"The military travel plan created standard operating procedures,so making Strategy the servant of Technology"This is the essence of war by train timetables given instead of long diatribes,in one sentence.He has also the best understanding of the Schlieffen concept because it was not a definite plan ,its evolution post Schlieffen and Moltke's final version.Such profound understanding can be found only in one othe book that of prof Zuber's but he focused only on the Schlieffen inspired plans.Covering all War plans,Prof Strachan not only gives an authoritative and clear view of them but does away with a number of myths repeated till today by lesser scholars.The book covers most relevant aspects from Socialism and the Intrnational,the Imaginings of the Intellectuals,the battles of 1914 East and West,Africa,Turkey and up to the financing of the War etc.Having reread the book after many years and having read a number of other books since then I realize that in these lines I cannot analyse the whole work. Suffice to say that the book demands concentration and focusing. It is advisable for the reader to allow some considerable time after each chapter to process the food for thought provided,even if he is very knowledgable and well read on the subject.It is a very thorough work that will have a number of Historians feeding from it and will broaden the envelope of knowledge ,thoughts and views of this very dramatic period.I hope that the other volumes will follow soon ,particularly the 1918 oneDVK

As everyone will know, when it was published in 2001 this was intended to be the first of a projected three-volume history of WW1. It received glowing reviews, including being described as "definitive". As there is still no sign of the second volume, though, I think that that evaluation might need to be revised. What, presumably, should be the gist of the book - the military history of the war - is only taken up to the end of 1914, at least on the Western and Eastern Fronts. Since its publication there have been books by, among others, David Stevenson, that the general reader will turn to as offering a more comprehensive history of WW1. Strachan's work, though brilliant, remains a work-in-progress.

Fine

The layman's view on the First World War. Never too challenging, though it debunks a few myths and sensibly offers no new theories. A great way into the subject.

A very interesting and deep book, mainly in the chapters about origin and causes of war start, but we are waiting second part for years

A MUST if you want to understand something about 1st World War and why it took place.A great deal of research has been unertaken.Concentration required to read it