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Title: Short History of World War I by James L. Stokesbury ISBN: 0-688-00129-7 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 01 January, 1981 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.92 (12 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Excellent readable account of World War I
Comment: This book is a concise, well written narrative covering the horrors of this conflict. I have noted previous reviewers stating that it is a listing of one bloody battle after another: True. However, Stokesbury gives great explanations as to the "why" behind the staggering loss of life based on the use of pre-WWI tactics, in the face of new weaponry.
If you are looking for detailed accounts of other than the Western and Eastern fronts, then this might not be the book for you, for they are only covered anecdotally. Yet the coverage for the conflict in the European theaters is great.
Stokesbury does not give a dry, mundane explanation of the events, but attempts to make the reader see the whole picture and does it in a very easy to understand format. A great book for anyone who wants a brief history of this conflict
Rating: 4
Summary: A Good Introduction to a Tragic War
Comment: "A Short History of World War I" provides the reader with an excellent overview of the first great cataclysm of the Twentieth Century without becoming bogging the reader in details.
Presented, essentially chronologically, Prof. Stokesbury covers all aspects and major theatres of the war. The origins of the war and the military mobilizations get the book started.
Much of the book is devoted to the Western front, but all theatres are given appropriate attention. The Eastern Front and its effects on driving Russia into revolution are thoroughly explained. I was surprised at the significance of the war in the Middle East. I was aware of the Gallipoli campaign aimed at forcing the Ottoman Empire out of the war by taking Constantinople, and of Lawrence of Arabia, but the intensity of the effort in the southern reaches of the Empire were also interesting. The colonial campaigns in Africa and the Pacific are explained both militarily and in relationship to the colonial aspirations of the belligerents.
The naval campaigns, primarily the U-boat war, are well reported. The adoption of the convoy system as a response to the U-boat threat was an example of the advances made in the techniques of warfare. The narration of the Battle of the Jutland, probably the greatest shoot-out among battleships and other fleet vessels, is skillfully explained.
The Western Front is where the war was, ultimately, won and lost. The interplay among the characters who played on the Western stage makes an intriguing epic. The French search for a winning commander is reminiscent of Lincoln's search for the same, while the British Haig's untouchability reminds one of the revered Robert E. Lee.
After years of stalemate along the Western Front, the situation started to become fluid with the collapse of Russia and the entry of the United States into the war. This set up a race between the German troops heading west from Russia and the Americans heading "Over There". As we know, the Germans were unable to finish the job before the Americans and civil unrest in Germany and Austria-Hungary tipped the balance in the Allies' favor.
In my mind, three tests exist for an historical book. They are whether the book provides an understanding of the subject, whether it encourages further reading and whether it introduces new ways of thinking of the topic. This book passes all three tests.
After reading this book, I felt that I had a general understanding of the course of the war.
One character about whom I emerged with an enhanced interest was Woodrow Wilson. I have long viewed Wilson as a largely ineffective idealist from whom one could learn little. In this book he is seen as one who introduced a new way of looking at diplomacy. His actions in overcoming American isolationism and introducing Europe to American idealism changed America and the world forever.
This book forced me to see World War I from a different perspective. My impression of World War I had been limited largely to a vision of revolting slaughter in the trenches and mud of the Western front. While this is a large part of the story, it is not the whole story. Lloyd George's opposition to the Western Front mirrors Churchill's fascination with Gallipoli and his later emphasis of the Mediterranean theatre in World War II. The thought that World War I could have been decided other than in Flanders' Fields provides a whole new perspective on the war. The suggestions of alternative ways that the war could have concluded constitute a list of opportunities lost and tragedies which could have been avoided.
For anyone desiring an understanding of World War I, this book is a good place to start.
Rating: 3
Summary: Good, not short.
Comment: I liked this book, although it really was one battle after another. It should be required reading for any political leader considering going to war. I have two complaints however which are comon to many WWI books. First, not enough maps. Second and more important, his section on the Brusilov offensive is incorrect. Brusilov had no "specialized units", and the author goes into very little detail about Brusilovs tactics. His conclusions are simplistic and wrong. The idea that lack of artillery lead to Brusilovs success is simply not true. The author is trying to guess why Brusilov was successful, and completely neglects the information that the General wrote in his own book, (A soldiers note-book, A. A. Brusilov). Overall its a good primer and a pleasant read for the military historian, but I gave it only three stars for lack of tactical details, and incorrect assumptions regarding artillery. See The Myth of the Great War, (John Mosier), for the opposite view on artillery.
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Title: A Short History of World War II by James L. Stokesbury ISBN: 0688085873 Publisher: Quill Pub. Date: 01 January, 1980 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: A Short History of the American Revolution by James L. Stokesbury ISBN: 068812304X Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 01 January, 1993 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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Title: A Short History of the Civil War by James L. Stokesbury ISBN: 0688151299 Publisher: Quill Pub. Date: 01 April, 1997 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: A Short History of the Korean War by James L. Stokesbury ISBN: 0688095135 Publisher: Quill Pub. Date: 01 December, 1989 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
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Title: The Experience of World War I by J.M. Winter ISBN: 0195207769 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: 01 February, 1989 List Price(USD): $40.00 |
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