- World War I: A History From Beginning to End

I was hesitant to purchase this book because it did not have references. Yet, on reading a sample it was clear the author knew his material. He does not labor over details, though he does include them at points I thought necessary. Perhaps the best example is at the beginning when he presents a narrative about the assassination that triggered the eventual onset of war. He writes:The plan was to blow up Ferdinand’s car, and a bomb was thrown at his procession as it passed a crowd. However, they failed to kill or even injure the archduke, though they did inflict injuries on others. Later that day, Ferdinand visited some of those who were hurt in the hospital. When he was in his car being driven away from that visit, one of the bomb-throwers, Gavrilo Princip, happened to be on a quiet street that the car turned onto. He took advantage of this coincidence and shot and killed Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie.He also describes how Tsar Nicholas II's wife, Alexandra, took over domestic affairs while her husband was involved with the war, with Rasputin helping her make political decisions. The author tells us,[Rasputin] did, however, come to symbolize for many the incompetence and disconnectedness of the royal family from the Russian people. During the revolutionary years, he was put to death.He covers the major battles of the war without losing the reader in detail, yet leaving him with enough information to show how the outcome affected the war's progress or lack thereof.I was especially pleased that the author covers the fake neutrality of the US and its eagerness to enter the war. He points out that Wilson was elected on a promise of peace then turns around and asks for a declaration of war. The war was very disappointing to Wilson who only obtained one of his 14 points at the Paris Peace Conference, the creation of the League of Nations, which the US did not join.He also reminds us the WWI was only the preliminary for WWII, as the war guilt clause in the peace treaty along with the severe war reparations left the German people susceptible to Hitler.I give the book five stars for its brevity without losing meaning, assuming you have some background in the war. It can be read in one sitting. If there's a second edition, I hope the author considers including references or at least suggestions for further reading.

I knew almost nothing about WWI before reading this book. I found the book very informative.

To fully understand what caused World War I would take some reading, but this book manages to do a good job in a few pages. There are no chapters filled with the exploits of heroes just a clear telling of what happened. Now some might see this as a over simplification of the facts and it may well be, but it does give a person a starting point for a more in depth look .

We all know that since the birth of th United States, they United States has been waging wars or using proxies to fight wars. The US Government has NEVER be en interested in anyrhing to end all wars. Without wars, she cannot conduct her arms selling business. Look at how USA is surrounding China with military bases and yet claimed China to be an agitator.

This short book is an excellent short documentary on the First World War. It helps to determine and understand the world conditions and country and area tensions that were present at the beginning of the war. Of course the one event that history points to that actually started the conflict was the assassination of Arch Duke Ferdinand during his visit to Serbia.This is either a good primary or refresher depending on your level of knowledge of the events of WW1.WLM of SC

This boom provides a very good overview of WW1. It looks at the lead up to the war, the major events of the war and the conclusion. As always this is not meant to be an in-depth review but a high level overview. It does a god jog at helping the reader underway the complexity of the war and the countries involved. Worth the read.

I purchased the book to learn history about World War 1. What I liked about the book is that I received a lot of historical information contained in the 50 page book. I had limited knowledge about what brought about World War 1 and I was able to read the book in about 2 hours. The book explained the incidents that started the conflict and then walked through how the war continued and ended by stating that it wasn't the "war to end all wars" but was the prelude to World War II.

This series is a good series of books. If you just want a taste of what the actual history is, it will just touch on the events but not go in depth with it. That is my only complaint.