Sivasothi N.'s Reviews > The First World War: A Very Short Introduction

Michael Howard (2007) pens an excellent summary which allows me to gain a foothold into the subject. I found it a critical read as popular knowledge accessible to English readers and viewers is Anglo centric and emphasises the Western Front. Also the state of imperial multi-ethnic territories are not clear to Cold War audiences.

So much of the origins of WW2 lie in WW1 that every student of the global hostilities should acquire a fundamental grasp of WW1. I’m embarrassed I didn’t earlier, especially after picking this up. I found this very short introduction excellent from the first page.

The conciseness was striking after having perused several Wikipedia and YouTube resources. And being unfamiliar, I had to consult those for useful clarification which is why I took a long while to read this, slowly and deliberately. I also read Tammy Proctor’s “World War 1: A Short History” which covers social aspects and civilian impact.

Howard recommends James Joll’s “The Origins of the First World War” next, and I’m looking forward to that. But first, I can finally resume Barbara Tuchman, “The Guns of August”.

An eBook from NLB on Libby.