WWI - what book??

J.S. Pill

Can anyone recommend a 1 volume book on WWI? There are no particular aspects I want to focus on and I'm not looking for anything too detailed, just a bit of bedtime reading more than anything else.

I saw a few titles in waterstones yesterday, I'll have another look this evening and post what they have up here.

thanks

TerrorFirmer

A nice, simple one but with a decent level of detail in the general scope of things is 'The First World War' by Hew Strachan, and a fairly popular one as well, easy to find.

You'll notice too alot of what people call the shortcomings in the text are lack of depth into certain events - but to someone who's just specified a general text, that shouldn't be a problem, personally I'm a big history buff and although I did find some areas lacking I still thought it an excellent read.

J.S. Pill

HavoK wrote:

A nice, simple one but with a decent level of detail in the general scope of things is 'The First World War' by Hew Strachan, and a fairly popular one as well, easy to find.

You'll notice too alot of what people call the shortcomings in the text are lack of depth into certain events - but to someone who's just specified a general text, that shouldn't be a problem, personally I'm a big history buff and although I did find some areas lacking I still thought it an excellent read.

I'm pretty sure that one in in waterstones - one amazon review does say that its probably not the best book for someone just begining to explore the subject. I used to be interested in WWI when I was a lad but a lot of the time I just looked at the pictures...

Thanks

UrbanFox

When you have finished reading your book on WW1 and if you want to read on study a copy of the Treaty of Versailles which followed it.

If you want to read on even further I recommend that you read Mein Kampf by a Mr. Hitler as that will give you the ideological basis on which he initiated WW2. If you can make head or tail of it fair play to you as I still cannot understand what the hell he was talking about.

If you want to track the course of WW2 you could read Churchill's six volume work on it.

Fratton Fred

Not a book, but the BBC website has an excellent history section, this site is also very good http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/w1frm.htm

hivizman

If you want a more substantial book than Strachan's, try David Stevenson's "1914-1918: The History of the First World War", published by Penguin.

J.S. Pill

hivizman wrote:

If you want a more substantial book than Strachan's, try David Stevenson's "1914-1918: The History of the First World War", published by Penguin.

Just so happens that I bought that book yesterday! Very readable so far.

jos28

It might be worthwhile looking at http://www.1914-1918.net. It has a wealth of information and some book recommendations as well.

Gavin-sar

J.S. Pill wrote:

Can anyone recommend a 1 volume book on WWI? There are no particular aspects I want to focus on and I'm not looking for anything too detailed, just a bit of bedtime reading more than anything else.

I saw a few titles in waterstones yesterday, I'll have another look this evening and post what they have up here.

thanks

If so, I would suggest you also a sort of diary not "heavy" at all to be read.
Is the point of view of the weaker part of society (farmworkers and shepherds)
that never said "Yes/No" but sent to fight and died.



Sardinian Brigade (Emilio Lussu) - Un anno sull'altipiano" (A Year on the Asiago Plateau)

A Picture of the Movie from the same Book.
"Uomini Contro (Men against)" - Dino Risi 1970

Rovi

Also not a book (sorry :rolleyes:), but there's a wonderful BBC DVD box set titled The Great War.
It's a TV series made by the BBC in 1964 and it contains many interviews with veterans, men then in their 60s and 70s.
Amazing stuff, it was the inspiration for the much better known 'The World At War' which dealt with WW2 in the same style.