The First World War (Opus Books) - Softcover

"A quick, sharp, very well written book....[Robbins] demonstrates a unique ability to reduce a great deal of information to a readable and concise account."--Choice "Robbins has sought to consolidate the abundant literature on World War I into a concise, readable statement of less than two hundred pages. On the whole he has succeeded admirably....exceptionally comprehensive....a provocative and thoughtful account."--Meredith W. Berg, The Historian "The book is ideal for an undergraduate western civilization course, an upper-division course in twentieth-century Europe, or a world politics class in political science."--Teaching History "A quick, sharp, very well written book....[Robbins] demonstrates a unique ability to reduce a great deal of information to a readable and concise account."--Choice "Robbins has sought to consolidate the abundant literature on World War I into a concise, readable statement of less than two hundred pages. On the whole he has succeeded admirably....exceptionally comprehensive....a provocative and thoughtful account."--Meredith W. Berg, The Historian "The book is ideal for an undergraduate western civilization course, an upper-division course in twentieth-century Europe, or a world politics class in political science."--Teaching History "A quick, sharp, very well written book....[Robbins] demonstrates a unique ability to reduce a great deal of information to a readable and concise account."--Choice "Robbins has sought to consolidate the abundant literature on World War I into a concise, readable statement of less than two hundred pages. On the whole he has succeeded admirably....exceptionally comprehensive....a provocative and thoughtful account."--Meredith W. Berg, The Historian "The book is ideal for an undergraduate western civilization course, an upper-division course in twentieth-century Europe, or a world politics class in political science."--Teaching History "A quick, sharp, very well written book....[Robbins] demonstrates a unique ability to reduce a great deal of information to a readable and concise account."--Choice "Robbins has sought to consolidate the abundant literature on World War I into a concise, readable statement of less than two hundred pages. On the whole he has succeeded admirably....exceptionally comprehensive....a provocative and thoughtful account."--Meredith W. Berg, The Historian "The book is ideal for an undergraduate western civilization course, an upper-division course in twentieth-century Europe, or a world politics class in political science."--Teaching History "A quick, sharp, very well written book.... Robbins demonstrates a unique ability to reduce a great deal of information to a readable and concise account."--Choice "Robbins has sought to consolidate the abundant literature on World War I into a concise, readable statement of less than two hundred pages. On the whole he has succeeded admirably....exceptionally comprehensive....a provocative and thoughtful account."--Meredith W. Berg, The Historian "The book is ideal for an undergraduate western civilization course, an upper-division course in twentieth-century Europe, or a world politics class in political science."--Teaching History

The tragic slaughter of the trenches is imprinted on modern memory; but it is more difficult to grasp the wider extent and significance of World War I. This book gives a chronological account of the campaigns on the Western and Eastern Fronts and then moves on to investigate areas that many studies ignore - war poets, the diplomacy of war-aims and peace moves, logistics, and the "experience of war". It was soon seen that "war has nothing to do with chivalry any more", but it was harder to say what World War I was fought for, or what the combatants gained. Professor Robbins approaches this problem from two angles: he analyzes the complex political and diplomatic background to the alliances between the Great Powers; he also explores the mood of Europe between 1914 and 1918 by examining the experience of war from the different standpoints of the nations and individuals caught up in it.