The Great War: A Combat History of the First World War

An amazing comprehensive historiography of the Great War. I was introduced to Peter Hart's work from the popular podcast Hardcore History by Dan Carlin. This book is referenced throughout the six podcast episodes dedicated to the Great War. This book covers the conflict from 1914 until 1918 and on into the peace conferences of 1919. What I liked most about this book was how Hart covered the various fronts of the war and at different times. He talks about the campaigns in Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Africa, Mesopotamia, Italy, the sea battles, Salonica, Turkey and more. I was able to better understand the scope of this conflict. This book focuses on tactical aspects of the war with a focus on the British Expeditionary Force. This is understandable because Hart is British and they were part of the victors of the conflict. What I disliked most about the book was how little was discussed about the Battle of Verdun. This is understandable because again, Hart is British and that battle was fought primarily between the Germans and French. I'll more than likely read a book specifically about the Battle of Verdun. I found this book captivating and informative, which is everything I look for in my reading. It didn't feel like a required reading for a college class. I don't think this book is a great introductory piece for people looking to learn about the First World War because it is quite dense and nuanced in terms of British military history. I feel like you should have an affinity to studying this conflict.

This work is difficult to evaluate overall. On the one hand, it is excellent and comprehensive look at World War I from a military perspective. And the author has done a fine job in giving the various (often) overlooked campaigns such as their due and then judging them dispassionately: "Gallipoli was nothing but a foolish sideshow," the German High Seas Fleet "had all been for nothing," "Palestine proved to be a waste of resources," and "Mesopotamia was a tragedy from start to finish." Putting the entire military picture into focus helps us to understand the importance of various regions and the roles they played - or didn't play - in the eventual decisive outcome on the Western Front where the final defeat of Germany was to come (and according to the author) virtually had to come. At the same time, while there are some maps of the various theaters at the beginning of the volume, there are none dealing with the specific battles in the text where the battles are described. This can become truly maddening and it is recommended that one read the text in conjunction with a well-illustrated war atlas such as Arthur Bank's A Military Atlas of the First World War (Barnsley: Pen and Sword Books, 1997). Also, while many of Hart's major conclusions such as Germany only had small margin for victory and that was in 1914 (and even then she was suffering casualty rates "at an unacceptable rate") and all the Allied Powers were critical to the eventual victory seem sound, his exoneration of the Allied generals despite their strategic paucity of vision and horrendously high casualties, unimaginative strategy and repetitive tactics. Yes, that fighting did "prove to be one of the most complex military conundrums of the modern age," but every major battle on the Western Front was won by the defensive side, as predicted by Clausewitz and born out year after bloody year in Belgium and France. Surely more astute military minds could have been expected to have picked up on that trend earlier than they did, especially the British ones whose butcher's bill at the Somme in 1915 alone was 419,654! One of the most insightful of his observations comes in the preface where Park declares that after the Great War, "The French and the British were left drained of energy wealth and prestige even as they drank from the poisoned chalice of victory." True enough.

There are so many details that I didn't know about the great war that came out in this book. The narration is excellent and its long enough that it didn't feel rushed. It gave me a new perspective on history without the bias of everyone looking back with 20 20 vision. No it explains the reasoning of the generals, the reasons why certain paths and not others were taken. It gives real light to the struggles of these vast empires as they struggled to win a war that neither side saw coming. That old saying that, "you are always fighting the last war" it makes sense so much in this conflict neither side wanted the bloody slog that it came down to. When neither side is willing to play to the other's game this is what happens; armies unable to gain the purchase needed to overcome the enemy must claw tooth and nail to make a firm and decisive battle. This book gives voice to those men who fought and died in a war, not without purpose as so many uneducated would say. These men fought and died for their country and their people in ideas that they thought right.

WWI was a sprawling affair and this book covers in broad strokes the major campaigns of the conflict. It does an excellent job of covering the major thrust-and-counterthrust actions of the war along numerous axes including the technology involved, the tactics adopted, and the specific strategic initiatives of the nations engaged. It doesn't supply the fastidious (and really tiresome) detail that you might find in Frank Simonds' five-volume contemporary History of the World War which might be of interest to serious scholars. Nor is it quite the mastpiece of a yarn that Barbara Tuchman weaves in The Guns of August. It is a very good (albeit broad) overview of the conflict that resembles a sports highlight reel in that it is brief and touches upon the critical and exciting events of the war. The magic that it brings really is first hand accounts by participants. Some really really good bits of first hand testimony and snips of speeches by the great players on all sides.

This book combines the best of in-depth, meticulous reviews of virtually every major (and many less well known) battles together with the themes that weave together the story of the agonizing birth of modern war. From the reasons the Great Powers fought, to the harrowing story of the soldiers, to the evolution of tactics and strategy that will reveal that trench warfare was nothing so simple or static as we remember it today. An excellent read on the military realities of WWI.

For about a century (strict censorship in the warring nations kept critical appraisals from being written until after November 11, 1918) there have been widely accepted 'truths,' of the Great War, particularly the idea that the generals and officers on all sides were inept and sent the cream of their youth into the meat grinder of war. Peter Hart's book challenges a lot of these 'truths,' and tries to show that the reputations of the officers and their decisions that have existed all this time are not always accurate; these were not unfeeling, cold-blooded men who sent their youth to die without a second thought, and Hart does a good job of shining a light on just what these generals knew at the time, and as such Joseph Joffre, Ferdinand Foch, Douglas Haig, Erich von Falkenhayn, and Erich Ludendorff. While not at all a bio of the above listed men, Mr. Hart tries to show what influenced them as they made decisions with ramifications that we still feel today. While some may perhaps write this off as 'historical revisionism,' I think that is unfair, as Mr. Hart's only trying to look at certain events, such as the battle between the British Expeditionary Force and the Germans in Mons in 1914, and removing the myth and legend that the battle has held in British history for so long. If such a necessary re-examination is revisionism, then perhaps Mr. Hart is guilty, but it doesn't change the fact that this book is important in understanding the people who made those big decisions a century ago in the War to End All Wars.

Mr. Hart takes a number of popular understandings of the history of the First World War and tries to set them on their heads. The first is that the "eastern" sideshows could have hastened the war's end by knocking Germany's allies out of the war. The case is pretty much proven that Gallipoli, Salonika, Mesopotamia etc absorbed massive amounts of resources without having the slightest impact on the outcome. In other words, only the Western Front counted in the long run. The second misconception under study is the "brave soldiers-dumb generals" myth. Mr. Hart makes the case that generals on both side of the conflict had to learn how to use the newest technologies available to them and that the battles increased in sophistication as the war progressed. The point is extremely well made that "artillery was king" on all fronts and in all battles. The third major understanding tackled is that the British won the war with some minor assistance from the Americans. Mr. Hart makes the case most forcefully that it was the military prowess and sacrifices of France and Russia in the first two and a half years of the war that set the stage for an Allied victory. Mr. Hart stresses that the First World War was a war of alliances and the Western allies' victory is due in no small part to the fact that the alliance held together, despite extreme pressures. Finally, due reverence is paid to the military skills, ingenuity and endurance of the German army, which made the Allies task so much the more difficult.

It is difficult to find a contemporary history that is not revisionist, or that does not attempt to apply 21st Century sentiments to events and individuals of a different age. The author accounts for the emotions and influences of the early 20th century and post Industrial Revolution societies in examining the efforts and outcomes of the a Great War, separated from our new age judgements. This is a true history, not a latter day rush to judge nor a glorification of actions a century past.

The book gives you an in-depth look at the overall context as well as the daily realities of this war, clearly explaining how the advent of modern technology changed the way war was waged and how each side adapted its strategy and tactics to these changes.

Peter Hart is a great historian and a gited writer.

Great book

4年3ヶ月に渡り世界を巻き込んだ第一大戦の全貌を将軍から兵士に至る多くの目を通して描いた力作。死傷者の多さから将軍達の`無能‘さを非難する史書が少なくないが、本書は当時の状況や軍事認識を考慮してバランスのとれた見方をしている。著者はオーラル・ヒストリアンで、本書では西部、東部戦線からイタリア、中東戦線までカバーし、各国の将官から兵士に至る多くの声を紹介しているが、ともかく生々しく悲惨だ。よくこれだけ集めた、その執念とエネルギーに脱帽！毒ガス弾、死体の散乱した泥沼、塹壕戦の余りの悲惨さに言葉を失う！

`The Great War' by Peter Hart is a compact, comprehensive chronology of World War One that offers a clear and concise narrative, interwoven with personal testimonies many of which are sourced from the Imperial War Museum. The book is structured into small succinct chapters that encompass most aspects of the war providing students of this conflict with an overview of the events that happened on the Western Front, Eastern Front, Gallipoli, Salonika, Italy, Palestine and the war at sea. Some of these topics are new to me and I was completely hooked by Peter Hart's ability to convey the subject to the reader. It is written in the same style and spirit as the author's previous books and demonstrates consistent scholarly research. It is an enormous challenge for any author to write about an epic subject as the First World War within 500 pages, but Peter Hart has successfully written a book that is engaging and informative. He shows the horrors that the men who fought that war like lions, explains what they had endured on a daily basis, at the same time showing that their commanders were far from donkeys; they were under pressure to achieve results, to adapt to new technology as they strived for victory. This book will also appeal to new students of the conflict as an invaluable introduction to a vast, complex and controversial subject. Peter Hart has met many veterans from World War One through his role as Oral Historian at the Imperial War Museum. Now that the veterans have passed away, historians such as Peter Hart and another author Paul Reed (who has also interviewed WW1 veterans) have become themselves the last link to that generation who listened to their accounts from first hand and can now relay them to our generation today. The firsthand accounts of the participants are the heart and soul of the book which complements the easy to read commentary. Peter Hart has established himself as one of the leading chroniclers of World War One of our generation in his ability to tell the stories of those that took part in this awful conflict. He has set the benchmark for other authors to aspire and I am sure that this book will be widely referred to in the years to come. I will certainly read the book again and will refer to the author's opinion and comments on the various theatres of operation of this war during my studies in the future. Congratulations to Peter Hart for producing another invaluable contribution to the study of World War One.