Banned in Berlin: Literary Censorship in Imperial Germany, 1871-1918

Banned in Berlin: Literary Censorship in Imperial Germany, 1871-1918Banned in Berlin: Literary Censorship in Imperial Germany, 1871-1918 by Gary D. Stark
ISBN: 9781845455705
Published by Berghahn Books on March 2009
Genres: History, Europe, Germany, Political Science, Censorship, Social Science, General
Pages: 316

Len's Summary: Imperial Germany took a broad view of measures permissible and necessary to maintain moral and religious norms and political order, but this did not stifle literary life.

Spies in Arabia: The Great War and the Cultural Foundations of Britain’s Covert Empire in the Middle East

Spies in Arabia: The Great War and the Cultural Foundations of Britain’s Covert Empire in the Middle EastSpies in Arabia: The Great War and the Cultural Foundations of Britain's Covert Empire in the Middle East by Priya Satia
ISBN: 0199734801
Published by Oxford University Press on November 1st 2009
Genres: Political Science, General, Middle East, Great Britain, Colonialism & Post-Colonialism
Pages: 458

Len's Summary: Beyond Lawrence of Arabia: The interaction between culture and imperialism. // Scholarly critique of British imperialism as a paranoid and brutal arm of military policy with its roots in Edwardian England; questions the liberal underpinnings of imperial ideology. A cultural history of the interwar British imperial state.

The Rise of Militarism in the Progressive Era, 1900-1914

The Rise of Militarism in the Progressive Era, 1900-1914The Rise of Militarism in the Progressive Era, 1900-1914 by Roger Possner
ISBN: 9780786444182
Published by McFarland & Company on June 13th 2009
Genres: History, United States, 19th Century, Political Science, Political Ideologies, General
Pages: 252

Len's Summary: How the War Department and Army worked to build a martial spirit among the American people.

From Jutland to Junkyard

From Jutland to JunkyardFrom Jutland to Junkyard by S.C. George
ISBN: 9781843410102
Published by Birlinn on July 2009
Pages: 168

Len's Summary: The interwar salvage for scrap of a portion of the German High Seas Fleet scuttled by its crews at Scapa Flow in June 1919.

The Origins of the First World War

The Origins of the First World WarThe Origins of the First World War by William Mulligan
ISBN: 9780521713948
Published by Cambridge University Press on March 4th 2010
Genres: Political Science, History, Europe, General, Modern, 20th Century, Military, World War I, International Relations
Pages: 265

Len's Summary: A scholarly reinterpretation of the origins examining key issues from 1870 to 1914, and arguing that WWI was far from inevitable.

For Home and Country: World War I Propaganda on the Home Front

For Home and Country: World War I Propaganda on the Home FrontFor Home and Country: World War I Propaganda on the Home Front by Celia Malone Kingsbury
ISBN: 0803224745
Published by University of Nebraska Press on July 1st 2010
Genres: History, Military, World War I, Political Science, Propaganda, Psychology, General, Social Science, Popular Culture
Pages: 326

Len's Summary: Propaganda in America and Europe came in myriad forms including cook books, novels, magazines and even children’s’ toys.

Russia in 1913

Russia in 1913Russia in 1913 by Wayne Dowler
ISBN: 9780875804279
Published by Northern Illinois University Press on October 29th 2010
Genres: History, Europe, Russia & the Former Soviet Union, Political Science
Pages: 351

Len's Summary: A wide-ranging look at a complex country on the edge of the precipice.

Bolo Pacha: A Forgotten Story About Men & Women Who Made History in WWI

Bolo Pacha: A Forgotten Story About Men & Women Who Made History in WWIBolo Pacha: A Forgotten Story About Men & Women Who Made History in WWI by Shelby F. Westbrook
ISBN: 9781426921759
Published by AuthorHouse on January 20th 2010
Pages: 108

Len's Summary: Frenchman Paul Marie Bolo was a war profiteer at the heart of a German effort to control French newspapers during WWI.

Conscience: Two Soldiers, Two Pacifists, One Family – A Test of Will and Faith in World War I

Conscience: Two Soldiers, Two Pacifists, One Family – A Test of Will and Faith in World War IConscience: Two Soldiers, Two Pacifists, One Family – A Test of Will and Faith in World War I by Louisa Thomas
ISBN: 9780143120995
Published by Penguin Books on May 29th 2012
Genres: History, Military, World War I, United States, 20th Century, Political Science, Peace
Pages: 320

Len's Summary: A look at the tumultuous years of the early 20th century through the eyes of the Thomas brothers.

With Our Backs to the Wall: Victory and Defeat, 1918

With Our Backs to the Wall: Victory and Defeat, 1918With Our Backs to the Wall: Victory and Defeat, 1918 by David Stevenson
ISBN: 9780674062269
Published by Harvard University Press on September 19th 2011
Genres: History, Europe, General, Military, World War I, United States, Political Science, International Relations
Pages: 688

Len's Summary: A broad, sagely crafted political-military analysis of the 1918 end game of WWI focusing on the basis for the Allies’ incomplete victory and implications for peace. The author also wrote the excellent Armaments and the Coming of War, 1904-1914 (Oxford, 1996).

Shattering Empires: The Clash and Collapse of the Ottoman and Russian Empires 1908-1918

Shattering Empires: The Clash and Collapse of the Ottoman and Russian Empires 1908-1918Shattering Empires: The Clash and Collapse of the Ottoman and Russian Empires 1908-1918 by Michael A. Reynolds
ISBN: 9780521149167
Published by Cambridge University Press on January 27th 2011
Genres: Political Science, History, Europe, General, Colonialism & Post-Colonialism, Social Science, Islamic Studies, Middle East
Pages: 324

Len's Summary: The confrontation in the Russo-Ottoman hinterlands from the Young Turk Revolution of 1908 through the Russian Revolution to the end of WWI. A study in imperial policy-making and warfare.

Imagining the Middle East: The Building of an American Foreign Policy, 1918-1967

Imagining the Middle East: The Building of an American Foreign Policy, 1918-1967Imagining the Middle East: The Building of an American Foreign Policy, 1918-1967 by Matthew F. Jacobs
ISBN: 9780807834886
Published by Univ of North Carolina Press on September 12th 2011
Genres: History, Middle East, General, United States, 20th Century, Political Science, International Relations
Pages: 318

Len's Summary: Traces the evolution of US perceptions of the Middle East from the breakup of the Ottoman Empire to the 1967 War.

The Kaiser’s Holocaust: Germany’s Forgotten Genocide and the Colonial Roots of Nazism

The Kaiser’s Holocaust: Germany’s Forgotten Genocide and the Colonial Roots of NazismThe Kaiser's Holocaust: Germany's Forgotten Genocide and the Colonial Roots of Nazism by Casper W. Erichsen, David Olusoga
ISBN: 9780571231423
Published by Faber & Faber on August 1st 2011
Genres: History, Africa, South, General, Europe, Germany, Military, Other, Political Science, Political Process
Pages: 394

Len's Summary: An indictment of German colonialism in South West Africa (present-day Namibia); the 1905 massacres of Herero and Nama tribesmen.

The Balkans: Revolution, War and Political Violence since 1878

The Balkans: Revolution, War and Political Violence since 1878The Balkans: Revolution, War and Political Violence since 1878 by Mark Biondich
ISBN: 9780199299058
on February 17th 2011
Genres: History, Europe, General, Political Science, Colonialism & Post-Colonialism, Genocide & War Crimes
Pages: 400

Len's Summary: From the Ottoman Balkans and the 1878 Treaty of Berlin through the 1923 Treaty of Lausanne and beyond; a primer in Balkan politics. This arrived just in time for the centenary of the Balkan Wars.

The Black Book: Woodrow Wilson’s Secret Plan for Peace

The Black Book: Woodrow Wilson’s Secret Plan for PeaceThe Black Book: Woodrow Wilson's Secret Plan for Peace by Wesley J. Reisser
ISBN: 9780739185391
Published by Lexington Books on 2013
Genres: History, Military, World War I, Political Science, International Relations, Treaties, Peace, Social Science, Human Geography, United States
Pages: 204

Len's Summary: American involvement in negotiating the breakup of European empires with particular reference to redrawing national borders in Central and Eastern Europe, and the Middle East. These frontiers remain a living problem for diplomacy today.

Civil War in Europe, 1905-1949

Civil War in Europe, 1905-1949Civil War in Europe, 1905-1949 by Stanley G. Payne
ISBN: 9781107648159
Published by Cambridge University Press on September 30th 2011
Genres: History, Europe, General, Modern, 20th Century, Political Science, Comparative Politics, Military
Pages: 256

Len's Summary: Treats the world wars as a single conflict.

The Shadow of the Past: Reputation and Military Alliances before the First World War

The Shadow of the Past: Reputation and Military Alliances before the First World WarThe Shadow of the Past: Reputation and Military Alliances before the First World War by Gregory D. Miller
ISBN: 9780801464607
Published by Cornell University Press on February 17th 2012
Pages: 248

Len's Summary: Posits the axiom that only states perceived as reliable (viz., willing to support alliance partners in time of war) could form strong, effective military pacts. A study of diplomacy in the Belle Époque. // How states built and sustained alliances in pre-war Europe.

Contested Frontiers in the Balkans: Ottoman, Habsburg and Communist Rivalries in Eastern Europe

Contested Frontiers in the Balkans: Ottoman, Habsburg and Communist Rivalries in Eastern EuropeContested Frontiers in the Balkans: Ottoman, Habsburg and Communist Rivalries in Eastern Europe by Irina Marin
ISBN: 9781780761053
on December 11th 2012
Genres: History, Europe, Eastern, Social History, Political Science, International Relations, General, Social Science, Anthropology, Cultural
Pages: 256

Len's Summary: Good background reading for the Great War, its aftermath and post WWII.

The Will to Believe: Woodrow Wilson, World War I, and America’s Strategy for Peace and Security

The Will to Believe: Woodrow Wilson, World War I, and America’s Strategy for Peace and SecurityThe Will to Believe: Woodrow Wilson, World War I, and America's Strategy for Peace and Security by Ross A. Kennedy
ISBN: 9780873389716
Published by Kent State University Press on March 13th 2009
Genres: History, Military, World War I, United States, General, 20th Century, Political Science, International Relations
Pages: 291

Len's Summary: A nuanced look at the debate surrounding Wilson’s national security policy and the shadow this casts across contemporary foreign policy formulation. // The author, an Assistant Professor of History at Illinois State University, takes a new, sophisticated look at how three competing groups — pacifists, liberal internationalists and Atlanticists — addressed national security issues during the Wilson Administration. // A fresh analysis of Wilson’s foreign policy focusing on three competing groups: pacifists, liberal internationalists, and Atlanticists.

German Colonialism: A Short History

German Colonialism: A Short HistoryGerman Colonialism: A Short History by Sebastian Conrad
ISBN: 9781107400474
Published by Cambridge University Press on November 17th 2011
Genres: History, Europe, General, Modern, Political Science, Colonialism & Post-Colonialism
Pages: 246

Len's Summary: A succinct survey history of German colonial expansion and policies from 1885 until it lost its colonial possessions in the Pacific, Asia and Africa as a result of WWI. Unlike several recent studies, this one contends that German colonial policy, though undeniably harsh and racially biased, did not necessarily fore shadow the Holocaust and was not dissimilar to that of France and Britain. (Originally published in German in 2008.)

The Young Turks’ Crime against Humanity: The Armenian Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing in the Ottoman Empire

The Young Turks’ Crime against Humanity: The Armenian Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing in the Ottoman EmpireThe Young Turks' Crime against Humanity: The Armenian Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing in the Ottoman Empire by Taner Akçam
ISBN: 9780691159560
Published by Princeton University Press on August 1st 2013
Genres: History, Modern, 20th Century, Middle East, Turkey & Ottoman Empire, Political Science, Human Rights, Social Science, Violence in Society
Pages: 483

Len's Summary: A documentation of the 1915 genocide voceforously denied by a succession of Turkish governments. See also A Shameful Act: The Armenian Genocide and the Question of Responsibility, Pacador, 2007 by the same author. Another of a growing number of books appearing as the centennial of the Armenian massacres approaches.

The Foreign Office Mind: The Making of British Foreign Policy, 1865-1914

The Foreign Office Mind: The Making of British Foreign Policy, 1865-1914The Foreign Office Mind: The Making of British Foreign Policy, 1865-1914 by T. G. Otte
ISBN: 9781107613102
Published by Cambridge University Press on August 22nd 2013
Genres: History, Europe, Great Britain, Modern, General, 20th Century, Political Science, International Relations
Pages: 468

Len's Summary: Study of the underlying principles and elite perceptions that shaped British foreign policy before the outbreak of WWI. -- How British elites shaped foreign policy — a look at the pre-1914 arms race, balance of powder in Europe and the causes of WWI.

July 1914: Countdown to War

July 1914: Countdown to WarJuly 1914: Countdown to War by Sean McMeekin
ISBN: 9780465060740
Published by Basic Books on April 29th 2014
Genres: History, Europe, General, Military, World War I, Modern, 20th Century, Political Science, International Relations
Pages: 460

Len's Summary: Analysis of the frenetic activities of often desperate diplomats and more sanguine soldiers by the winner of the 2011 WW1HA Tomlinson Book Prize. A fast-paced account of some of the most important decisions of the 20th century. The author spares no one, but lays much of the blame on France and Russia. See also The Lions of July: Prelude to War, 1914,William Jannen, Presidio Press, 1997.

Making the World Safe for Workers: Labor, the Left, and Wilsonian Internationalism

Making the World Safe for Workers: Labor, the Left, and Wilsonian InternationalismMaking the World Safe for Workers: Labor, the Left, and Wilsonian Internationalism by Elizabeth McKillen
ISBN: 9780252037870
Published by University of Illinois Press on October 8th 2013
Genres: History, United States, 20th Century, Political Science, Labor & Industrial Relations
Pages: 299

Len's Summary: Focuses on Wilson’s approach to labor, WWI, and peacemaking.

Making the World Safe: The American Red Cross and a Nation’s Humanitarian Awakening

Making the World Safe: The American Red Cross and a Nation’s Humanitarian AwakeningMaking the World Safe: The American Red Cross and a Nation’s Humanitarian Awakening by Julia Irwin
ISBN: 9780199766406
Published by OUP USA on May 23rd 2013
Genres: History, United States, 20th Century, Modern, South, Political Science, International Relations, General, NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations)
Pages: 273

Len's Summary: The rise of the American Red Cross from Julia Ward Howe and the Civil War through WWI when it became our official private voluntary aid agency.

War in Peace: Paramilitary Violence in Europe after the Great War

War in Peace: Paramilitary Violence in Europe after the Great WarWar in Peace: Paramilitary Violence in Europe after the Great War by Robert Gerwarth, John Horne
ISBN: 9780199686056
Published by OUP Oxford on October 3rd 2013
Genres: History, Europe, General, Former Soviet Republics, Military, World War I, Revolutionary, Russia & the Former Soviet Union, Modern, 20th Century, Social History, Political Science, Political Freedom
Pages: 256

Len's Summary: Conflicts lasting through 1923 broke out in Ireland, Italy, Eastern and Central Europe, and Turkey.

Abandoning American Neutrality: Woodrow Wilson and the Beginning of the Great War, August 1914 – December 1915

Abandoning American Neutrality: Woodrow Wilson and the Beginning of the Great War, August 1914 – December 1915Abandoning American Neutrality: Woodrow Wilson and the Beginning of the Great War, August 1914 – December 1915 by M. Ryan Floyd
ISBN: 9781137334114
Published by Palgrave Macmillan on September 5th 2013
Genres: History, Europe, General, Military, World War I, United States, 20th Century, Political Science
Pages: 262

Len's Summary: Traces Wilson’s ultimately unsuccessful efforts to keep America out of war in the face of political, economic and financial imperatives.

Lawrence in Arabia: War Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle East

Lawrence in Arabia: War Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle EastLawrence in Arabia: War Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle East by Scott Anderson
ISBN: 9780385532938
Published by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group on August 6th 2013
Genres: History, Middle East, General, Military, World War I, Political Science, International Relations, Diplomacy
Pages: 592

Len's Summary: How the violent expulsion of the Ottomans and near-sighted Franco-British imperial policies led to a series of crises that began in 1918 and persist today.

The July Crisis: The World’s Descent Into War, Summer 1914

The July Crisis: The World’s Descent Into War, Summer 1914The July Crisis: The World’s Descent Into War, Summer 1914 by T. G. Otte
ISBN: 9781107064904
Published by Cambridge University Press on June 5th 2014
Pages: 555

Len's Summary: Finds the causes of war in the utter failure of European state craft not in abstract concepts such as Balance of Power or competing alliance systems. // Finds the failure of European state craft at the root of all causes. Another look at a much-studied case.

The Outbreak of the First World War: Structure, Politics, and Decision-Making

The Outbreak of the First World War: Structure, Politics, and Decision-MakingThe Outbreak of the First World War: Structure, Politics, and Decision-Making by Jack S. Levy, John A. Vasquez
ISBN: 9781107616028
Published by Cambridge University Press on March 21st 2014
Genres: Political Science, International Relations, General, History, Military, World War I
Pages: 320

Len's Summary: Scholarly essays present an interdisciplinary look at the war.

The Great War and the Origins of Humanitarianism

The Great War and the Origins of HumanitarianismThe Great War and the Origins of Humanitarianism, 1918-1924 by Bruno Cabanes
ISBN: 9781107604834
Published by Cambridge University Press on March 13th 2014
Genres: History, Military, General, Law, International, Political Science
Pages: 397

Len's Summary: The war gave rise to individuals and organizations dedicated to eradicating human suffering.

Darks Invasion 1915: Germany’s Secret War and the Hunt for the First Terrorist Cell in America

Darks Invasion 1915: Germany’s Secret War and the Hunt for the First Terrorist Cell in AmericaDark Invasion: 1915: Germany's Secret War and the Hunt for the First Terrorist Cell in America by Howard Blum
ISBN: 9780062307569
Published by HarperCollins on February 10th 2015
Genres: History, Modern, 20th Century, Political Science, Terrorism, Biography & Autobiography, Law Enforcement
Pages: 496

Len's Summary: German saboteurs attempt to stem the flow of armaments from neutral America to the Allies. See also Black Tom: Imperial Germany’s Secret War in America, 1914-1917, Jules Whitcover, Algonquin, 1986.

A Fraternity of Arms: America and France in the Great War

A Fraternity of Arms:  America and France in the Great WarA Fraternity of Arms by Robert Bowman Bruce
ISBN: 9780700612536
Published by University Press of Kansas on 2003
Genres: History, Europe, France, Military, Strategy, World War I, Political Science, International Relations, General
Pages: 380

Len's Summary: Thanks in large measure to expert (and often bilingual) French instructors a core of four 28,000-man divisions of the American army was ready to join the French in blunting and then reversing the final German push on Paris at the Marne in July 1918. It is in the resounding German setback on the Marne of July 18, 1918 – not their August 8th defeat by the British at Amiens – that Bruce finds the beginning of the end for German arms on the Western Front.

The Russian Origins of the First World War

The Russian Origins of the First World WarThe Russian Origins of the First World War by Sean McMeekin
ISBN: 9780674063204
Published by Harvard University Press on December 12th 2011
Genres: History, Military, World War I, Europe, Russia & the Former Soviet Union, Political Science, International Relations, General
Pages: 344

Len's Summary: The author contends that the Tzarist regime believed a general European war to be in its national interest; that is sought to humiliate Vienna, conquer Constantinople and open the Straits as an ice-free trade route to the Mediterranean and the west. Winner of the 2011 Norman B. Tomlinson, Jr. Prize for the best work of history in English on World War One (1914-1918)