The First World War seems to be the forgotten war. Having read dozens of books covering World War II and the Russian Revolution, I recently finished "The Rise and the Fall of the Third Reich" and "Mein Kamph" in which Hitler blames the Communist Jewish agitators for the German defeat in WW I. How could that be, I wondered. Having inspired me to seek out the truth by pealing the historical onion one layer at a time, my reading efforts became focused on getting to the root of the entire European and Middle Eastern debacle and develop a better understanding of the geographical, political, and cultural disputes that resulted in two world wars and the continuing struggles that still exist today.

In the Introduction of "The First World War" Gilbert writes, “The war changed the map and destiny of Europe as much as it seared its skin and scarred its soul.” And indeed it did. During those 5 years, over 9 million military personnel died, 45 million were wounded, and God only knows how many million civilians died from starvation, disease, and ethnic cleansing. It is documented that at least 1 million Armenians were massacred.

And aside from numerous borders being re-drawn, and a few new countries claiming independence, the war resulted in 4 Royal Empires falling: The Kaiser of Germany, The Ottoman Empire in Turkey, the Habsburg Empire in Austria and Hungary, and the Tsar in Russia.

Martin Gilbert tells the entire story of the war from 1914 when the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, is murdered by a Serbian, to 1919 when the final peace treaty was signed. Year by year, country by country, each battle is vividly described. Escalating from 2 primary fronts involving Austria, Germany, Russia, France and Belgium, the war engulfed most of Europe, a good portion of the Middle East, Russia, and select parts of Africa. In total, it eventually encompassed 14 different war fronts and 11 nations. Some nations hopped on the war bandwagon simply in the hopes of gaining new territory. There are 31 reference maps which aid the reader in tracing the battles, charting the changing borders, and understanding the various war fronts.

At the onset, many battles were considered ‘trench warfare’… bloody fighting carried out on foot and horseback - with troops seeking safety in muddy trenches. Additionally soldiers were delivered by rail and fought at sea. The weapons were bayonets and simple guns. All countries involved used World War I as an opportunity to experiment with new types of warfare, thus developing machine guns, airplanes, bombs, tanks, grenades, and poisonous gas.

This is not just a dry factual history text book. It comes to life like a 3D technicolor movie. There are excerpts of letters from soldiers, quotes from many historical figures like Einstein and Woodrow Wilson. There are explanations of strategy and internal political struggles. And as the countries became war weary, there are stories of strikes, deserters, mutiny and revolution.

Here again the reader realizes that truth is stranger than fiction. After reading personal stories of all the battles, the death, disease, starvation, wounds, carnage, destruction, pain and suffering- week by week- battle by battle- front by front- for 5 long torturous years, you will wonder how those same countries could possibly enter another World War just 20 years later? This book offers that very explanation. The reader comes to realize that it was inevitable… taking only one lunatic like Hitler to get it started.

Oh, and by the way, the book explains in detail that Germany did not lose WW I because of Communist or Jewish agitators. Germany went into the war expecting a quick victory. Troops were ordered to “fight to the finish”. 2 million were killed, and 4.2 million injured. By 1919 Germany’s allies were surrendering, resources were diminishing, and properly trained soldiers were no longer available. The German army was in the process of recruiting (by force) young boys 14 and 15 years of age, and old men. It would have been a travesty to continue fighting against several million professionally trained, well equipped, healthy American soldiers.

This book should be required reading in history and world cultures classes. "The First World War" is comprehensive, powerful, informative, unbiased, and intellectually stimulating. The best book I read in 2017! ( )

Historians come in many flavours. There are those who expound on the big picture, who create masterful theories that appear to explain a lot, and some who dive into the detail of personalities and events. Martin Gilbert was a well respected historian with the public - his plentiful output sold well. Yet he was coolly assessed by reviewers and other historians. Paul Addison described one of his volumes on Winston Churchill as "more like a compilation of source materials", and Richard Overy described his Second World War history as "so perversely at odds with the conventions of modern history-writing that the least we might expect is some guidance".
Yet there is a place for the chronicler. History isn't just about grand narratives and theories of causation - events are important. The historian's own purpose and point of view don't have to be centre stage - as long as they aren't surreptitiously distorting the tale. David Kynaston is writing a much hailed history of post war Britain which echos Gilbert's style. The historians own voice and point of view is subtle, the sources and characters speaking for themselves. Kynaston roams back and forward through popular culture and specific individuals before centring on his core topic in each chapter.
Gilbert's history of World War 1 certainly is light on grand strategy and the big picture. It isn't really a military history, and doesn't spend a great deal of time on politics. It does jump from place to place, although I didn't find it particularly difficult to follow. What it is superb at is giving the human view of war. Through letters, diaries and poetry we get a vivid portrait of most of the theatres of war and of what it was like for the individuals. The real delight is in following particular characters (often to sad conclusions) and reading the footnotes about the legacy of individuals.
The up close and personal point of view does allow appreciation of the suffering, as well as a sense of living through the drama of the war itself. The many military and diplomatic coups of the central powers lead to nail biting moments right up until mid 1918, even knowing the outcome.
Martin Gilbert was a British Jew. This does show through in his perspective to some extent. German atrocities are highlighted while British ones are not, and he does point out Jews with particular interest (e.g. Walter Rathenau) in a way other authors might not. The book is lighter on the perspective of Central Powers participants but not overly so. The main omission is of Turkish perspectives however this probably reflects when the book was written (1994).
This book isn't the last word in explaining the First World War, however it contributes a lot to understanding what the war was about, the nature of it and its impact on individuals. As Martin Gilbert himself states: "All wars end up being reduced to statistics, strategies, debates about their origins and results. These debates about war are important, but not more important than the human story of those who fought in them". This book is a powerful exposition of that story. ( )

A very impressive attempt at describing the vast variety of actions that took place across many fronts in the first World War. Gilbert must have put in thousands of hours on research to come up with the individual, personal highlights that put the conflict in human terms. Of course, a vast amount of research and writing had already taken place, but the job of sorting through all of that to put it into a coherent, readable form must have been nearly overwhelming. Gilbert probably places more emphasis on the roles of Americans and Jews in the war than some historians, but I didn't think it seemed unjustified. He also did a good job of highlighting the plight of the Armenians. In sum, I found this work of history to be comprehensive, compassionate, and left me wanting to look further into several aspects of the war. ( )

Accessible one-volume history of the mechanical slaughter of the First World War. A bit Anglocentric, and cites a lot of poetry as well as memoirs, but still earth-shattering stuff. The start of the chaotic century. ( )

2767 The First World War: A Complete History, by Martin Gilbert (read 22 Jul 1995) This is an excellent work, and of course the concluding chapters are the best. He often tells of subsequently-famous persons who were in the war. As always, the horror of World War One is mind-boggling. The bibliography is filled with books which seem to be demanding I read them! ( )