1914-1918: The History of the First World War

Really good and can recommend!!

The star rating is for the book, the publishers however would not get a single star due to their stupid penny pinching decisions in regards to printing.After reading Robert K Massies staggeringly readable "Dreadnought" almost non stop detailing the events leading up to the start of the first world war in 1914 due to the quality of writing and clear presentaion of events I was so taken with the subject that I decided that I must follow up with an equaly good history of the conflict itself.After a lot of research I found almost universal (now known to be well deserved) praise for this book.This is an excellent book absolutely filled with detailed and informative text that provides an in depth understanding of the world shaping events of 1914 - 1918 as well as an explanation of the subsequent peace aggrement and its effect on Germany.However reading it has proved to be a difficult labour of love due to the rediculously small font size of print which I can only assume has been chosen to save on paper cost.What a shame that a masterpiece of modern historical writing should have the reading enjoyment spoilt by a publishers cheap attempt to save pennies.

1914-1918 is a significant contribution to the growing canon of works on 'The Great War'. Ambitious and incisive, there is something in this masterful account of WWI for everyone - from the lay person to expert. Unlike much historiography on the conflict the causes of the war are not the main focus of the book. The crux of the text is rather the form the war took and why it endured for four painful years of bloody attrition. Tactics, mechanised warfare and the eponymous trenches of misery of France and Belgium are the beating heart of David Stevenson's weighty tome. For the reader interested in the minutiae of military tactics there is much to recommend in 1914-1918.Indeed, Stevenson's analysis of the causes of stalemate on the Western Front are both convincing and illuminating. We are taken through the battles of WWI in evocative fashion by our expert guide, David Stevenson. Why the battles were lost but more commonly, how they ended in painful stalemate with the loss of thousands of men - eventually millions, over the course of the conflict. Both defenders and attackers were too evenly matched in terms of weapons, men, materiel for there to be a decisive result. Modern mechanised warfare was in the hands of a leadership with a pre-mechanised war mindset. Leaders on the battlefield were exposed for their inexperience of modern warfare, and as they came and went the question of how the war could be won persisted. This series of dilemmas, quandries and seeking of desperate solutions is at the heart of the book. But there are a number of weaknesses too. Stephenson eschews a narrative structure in favour of a series of thematic chapters. This leads to some repetition in parts of the text and no small amount of confusion. The most problematic aspect of the book is sometimes the lack of clarity in the analysis. Sentences tend to be rather long and wordy which makes it difficult for the reader to understand the pertinent points the author is making. Information often stands in for analysis, making large sections of the book opaque. It often appears that Stevenson is trying to cram too much into the book, making his narrative rather dense and confusing. Otherwise a great read.

I have a fascination of the First and Second World Wars, especially how the ordinary soldier, sailor and airman coped under such traumatic conditions.However, this book does not cover this aspect with any detail. What it does cover was the political side, the thoughts and behaviour of the leaders. It was fascinating.The detail in this book is mind boggling, how the author managed to accumulate so much information is awesome, (sorry to use such a word), yet it kept me fixed to the page, wanting to find out more.My only criticism is the page layout. On my kindle the whole page would be one paragraph, but as you read it is clear that there should have been a paragraph inserted. Sitting in bed at night, reading, I would decide to read to the end of the next paragraph, but it never came, so a lot of late nights.Congratulations David Stevenson.

I am now on my second reading of this book and am discovering facts missed the first time around. This is a very thorough book which must have taken many years of research.I am no achademic but recognise the quality of the information coupled with an easily read text, crammed full of information. Arguments or suggestions for actions taken by different players in the conflict are well put and thought provoking. A thoroughly enjoyable book.How I wish I had been taught history by the Author David Stevenson.

Overall, a very interesting and in-depth exploration into the events of the First World War. The book takes into account often sidelined aspects of the war, such as commonwealth troop involvement in Turkey, rather than the usual western front focus seen in other books. However, I can only give three stars, if Amazon offered half stars, or quarter stars id give the book 3.75/5 stars, the reason for this is the author's writing style, he often drops names into the book without context, as such it makes the text difficult to follow, and it consumes time having to find out which side they were on. Other instances he refers to individuals simply as they, even though he may be talking about three individuals, it makes following the book rather difficult. Despite this I would thoroughly recommend the book