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Title: First World War an Illustrated History by A.J. Taylor ISBN: 0-399-50260-2 Publisher: Perigee Books Pub. Date: 01 June, 1972 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $13.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4 (4 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Worth a look - but beware...
Comment: One of the great nightmares when having a conversation about military history is to have your companion turn round and say, "So can you recommend a book about the First World War?" There has been an extremely large output on the war and the historiography has developed and altered significantly over the years. Add to that the fact that as an event it was immense in scope and the whole concept of summing it all up in one volume is daunting to say the least.
Taylor's book is ideal for the newcomer in that it is readable, concise and well illustrated with photos. Unfortunately, if somebody was ONLY going to read one book on the First War, I personally don't think it should be this one. Taylor was nothing if not a controversialist and this is typical Taylor. Taylor considered his work a success if it upset the apple cart and got people talking and with this he clearly succeeds (according to Taylor the whole thing was an enormous accident). He loved to try to find tiny causes for massive, apocalyptic events - in this case he latches onto railway timetables. Quite how close this is to reality and how much of the whole story it tells is debatable and to be honest I think the book has dated somewhat. It's a product of its time as well; there are some history books that just scream "child of the sixties" and this is one of them.
On the credit side, as mentioned earlier the book is an easy read for the novice and the photos are excellent. I would just say - don't take what is contained within as gospel and while this book would be a worthy addition to your collection, it is important not to confine your reading purely to this book; a broader spread of works will allow you to see differing, perhaps more rigorously sourced, views and to put Taylor's work in context. Just bear in mind from that start that it's Taylor at the height of his eagerness to rock the boat (it's fruity old Taylor too - check out some of the captions to the photographs; "Lloyd George casts an experience eye over some munitions girls...") and that it came out of the 1960s and is very much a product of its time and you'll be fine.
Incidentally, it looks very much as though as far as general history of the war goes, Hew Strachan's new work will set the standard for a long time to come. Admittedly, Strachan's opus is going to be three doorstop sized volumes by the end so there's no denying this is easier on both the wallet and the social life. Also worth checking out it John Terraine's single volume history, which is generally very affordable and gives a somewhat more forgiving view than that put forward by Taylor.
Rating: 5
Summary: Non biased history
Comment: Taylor has once again proved himself one of the most impressive historians in history (forgive the pun), his detailed insight into the First World War through this book provides the reader perhaps the most genuine recollection of what actually happened. His deep analyses of the situations, followed by solid research work has perhaps kept his masterpiece from the bias commonly found with other historical books.
His remarks are bitingly accurate and he approaches the situation in a no-nonsense, down to earth method which leads to solid results, he is not afraid to unveil the blanket of history and tell all what he has found.
This book is a very interesting read, and filled with well placed pictures which perhaps adds more enjoyment. They are perhaps not served as examples, but more of a relaxant for the eye after a long read.
Reading this book has lead me to buy his other books, including Origins of the Second World War.
Rating: 4
Summary: Beautiful pictures, nice insight.
Comment: Like Taylor's other books, this book consists of less than 300 pages. Roughly about 50% is pictures.(There are 221 pictures in all, most of which I liked very much.) So this book is a very small one.
As a general overview of First World War, I don't feel like recommanding this book to others, for it omitted many things. For example, Taylor just ignored Armenian massacre which was committed by Turkey in 1915. Any way, no historian could compress First World War into such a small volume without jettisoning something important.
The strength of this book is that Taylor squarely faced some awkward questions which other historians usually avoid. (If you can read between the lines, you would learn much from this book. If you can't, this book is just a big chunk of contradiction.) Though Taylor pointed out many follies of First World War, he said that it was well implemented in a sense: the subjects of the Habsburg Empire obtained their national freedom; some of the subjects of the Ottoman Empire started on the same path; the war postponed the domination of Europe by Germany, or perhaps prevented it.
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Title: The Origins of The Second World War by A.J. Taylor ISBN: 0684829479 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 01 December, 1995 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: In Parenthesis (New York Review Books) by David Jones ISBN: 1590170369 Publisher: New York Review of Books Pub. Date: March, 2003 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: The Origins of the Second World War Reconsidered: A.J.P. Taylor and the Historians, Second Edition by Gordon Martel ISBN: 0415163250 Publisher: Routledge Pub. Date: October, 1999 List Price(USD): $34.95 |
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Title: Struggle for Mastery in Europe 1848 1918 (Oxford History of Modern Europe) by Alan John Percivale Taylor ISBN: 0198812701 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: 01 December, 1980 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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Title: The Complete Memoirs of George Sherston (Faber Paper-Covered Editions) by Siegfried Sassoon, Siegried Sassoon ISBN: 0571099130 Publisher: Faber & Faber Pub. Date: 01 January, 1985 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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