The Battle of Jutland

The Battle of JutlandThe Battle of Jutland by John Brooks
ISBN: 9781107150140
Published by Cambridge University Press on May 9, 2016
Genres: History, Europe, Great Britain, General, Military, World War I, Modern, 20th Century
Pages: 584

A remarkable work of scholarship; Brooks went back to the original reports submitted by the British commanders—Jellicoe, Beatty, and all their subordinates, as well as communications logs, gunnery logs, and other supplemental materials. The result is a detailed examination of the battle that strips away a hundred years of claims and counter-claims and provides a detailed, minute-by-minute account of the battle. Along the way Brooks offers many fresh insights into the actions of the British naval leadership. One warning: This is not a book for casual reading—to extract its full value the reader must pay close attention!

(Notes by Steve McLaughlin)

Armies of the Great War: The French Army and the First World War

Armies of the Great War: The French Army and the First World WarThe French Army and the First World War by Elizabeth Greenhalgh
ISBN: 1107605687
Published by Cambridge University Press on September 30, 2014
Genres: Reference
Pages: 400

The Journal of Military History review was mixed on this volume. The reviewer noted it is “a great primer for … learning more about the French” army, but also “It is imperfect, sometimes could go into more depth, and makes a few minor errors….”

What are these “minor” errors? Elizabeth Greenhalgh, a QE II Research Fellow at the University of New South Wales in Australia, makes regrettable and “irreconcilable” mistakes in French casualty figures, and misses important aspects of French artillery; for example, referring to French guns only by their caliber and not by their make. Artillery was a huge factor in the Great War, so knowing if a 155-mm cannon was the 1882 de Bange model that fired one aimed round per minute or the 1905 model Rimailho capable of ten to fifteen aimed rounds per minute is a big deal.

Her analysis of the French view of British BEF commander Haig as selfish and uncooperative is interesting, and her section on the French mutinies was called “the best treatment of the phenomenon in English” by the reviewer.

Reviewed by Dana Lombardy, publisher of WWOI

Armies of the Great War: The British Army and the First World War

Armies of the Great War: The British Army and the First World WarThe British Army and the First World War by Ian F.W. Beckett, Timothy Bowman, Mark Connelly
ISBN: 052118374X
Published by Cambridge University Press on May 30, 2017
Genres: Reference
Pages: 482

This volume was a collaborative effort of three professors at the University of Kent. Unlike the other volumes of this series reviewed in this issue, this one has no statistical tables; unfortunate since there are anecdotal numbers presented throughout the narrative.

It assesses the strengths and weaknesses of the British Army between 1914 and 1918, and discusses debates about the adequacy of British generalship and the so-called “learning curve” in the development of combat operations. Their conclusion is that despite limitations of initiative and innovation among the British high command, the British Army succeeded in developing effective combined arms warfare necessary for achieving victory in 1918.

The Western Front receives the lion’s share of attention with British Army operations “throughout the rest of the world” relegated to 26 pages. The index has “BEF, See British Expeditionary Force” but there is no such listing which means any pages where the BEF’s changing organization, such as the increase in machine-guns per battalion and decrease in battalions per division are lost (or nonexistent).

Reviewed by Dana Lombardy, publisher of WWOI

Armies of the Great War: The American Army and the First World War

Armies of the Great War: The American Army and the First World WarThe American Army and the First World War by David R. Woodward
ISBN: 1107648866
Published by Cambridge University Press on July 10, 2014
Genres: Reference
Pages: 481

The Journal of Military History review declared this “a well-researched and nicely written volume for the ‘Armies of the Great War’ series.” It went on to say “One of the major strengths of this work is the careful integration of the context in which the American Army is roughly jerked out of its wary complacency….”

David Woodward, an Emeritus Professor of History at Marshall University, covers the American Expeditionary Forces’ battles at the Saint-Mihiel salient, the Meuse-Argonne offensive, plus U.S. soldiers in Russia and Siberia. American politics, Allied debates about various strategies, and the arguments and negotiations among the coalition partners are also examined, especially on how the U.S. divisions were integrated into the Allied order of battle.

Professor Woodward’s overview is supported by seven statistical and organizational tables. The maps are adapted from the American Armies and Battlefields in Europe, 1938 published by the American Battlefield Monuments Commission.

Reviewed by Dana Lombardy, publisher of WWOI

Dennis Showalter: “…seminal work presents America’s creation of an army that suffered every possible shortcoming resulting from improvisation.”

The Cambridge Companion to the Literature of the First World War

The Cambridge Companion to the Literature of the First World WarThe Cambridge Companion to the Literature of the First World War by Vincent Sherry
ISBN: 0521528976
Published by Cambridge University Press on February 1st 2005
Pages: 348

Len's Summary: A critical overview of the major gendres, the impact of the war on the literature of the UK, America, France and the USA and legacy of the war in 20th century literature.

Vienna and the Fall of the Habsburg Empire: Total War and Everyday Life in World War I

Vienna and the Fall of the Habsburg Empire: Total War and Everyday Life in World War IVienna and the Fall of the Habsburg Empire: Total War and Everyday Life in World War I by Maureen Healy
ISBN: 0521042194
Published by Cambridge University Press on December 1st 2008
Pages: 333

Len's Summary: A good companion to Winter and Robert's Capital Cities at War: London, Berlin, Paris, 194-1919 (Cambridge 1997).

Imperial Germany and the Great War, 1914-1918

Imperial Germany and the Great War, 1914-1918Imperial Germany and the Great War, 1914-1918 by Roger Chickering
ISBN: 0521547806
Published by Cambridge University Press on May 6th 2004
Pages: 248

Len's Summary: Revised edition of an excellent analytical treatment by an established WWI historian who teaches at Georgetown University.

China and the Great War: China’s Pursuit of a New National Identity and Internationalization

China and the Great War: China’s Pursuit of a New National Identity and InternationalizationChina and the Great War: China's Pursuit of a New National Identity and Internationalization by Guoqi Xu
ISBN: 052128323X
Published by Cambridge University Press on September 22nd 2011
Pages: 342

Len's Summary: A neglected topic; billed as the first full-length study of China's involvement in the conflict.

The Great War in History: Debates and Controversies, 1914 to the Present

The Great War in History: Debates and Controversies, 1914 to the PresentThe Great War in History: Debates and Controversies, 1914 to the Present by Jay Murray Winter, Antoine Prost
ISBN: 0521616336
Published by Cambridge University Press on September 1st 2005
Pages: 250

Len's Summary: Historiography: scholarly analysis of the multitude of ways WWI has been interpreted by French, American and British historians, literary scholars, film directors and writers over three generations. Winter teaches at Yale and Prost at the University of Paris.

The Moral Disarmament of France: Education, Pacifism, and Patriotism, 1914-1940

The Moral Disarmament of France: Education, Pacifism, and Patriotism, 1914-1940The Moral Disarmament of France: Education, Pacifism, and Patriotism, 1914-1940 by Mona L. Siegel
ISBN: 0521187788
Published by Cambridge University Press on March 3rd 2011
Pages: 317

Len's Summary: Examines the complexity of French teachers' views of war in the inter-war period and how these influenced French popular reactions to threatened German aggression in the 1930s.

Citizen Soldiers: The Liverpool Territorials in the First World War

Citizen Soldiers: The Liverpool Territorials in the First World WarCitizen Soldiers: The Liverpool Territorials in the First World War by Helen B. McCartney
ISBN: 0521848008
Published by Cambridge University Press on December 12th 2005
Pages: 275

Len's Summary: A social history of the British Tommy drawing on official records and soldiers' correspondence. From the series Studies in the Social and Cultural History of Modern Warfare edited by Jay Winter and Paul Kennedy.

Decisions for War, 1914-1917

Decisions for War, 1914-1917Decisions for War, 1914-1917 by Richard F. Hamilton, Holger H. Herwig
ISBN: 0521545307
Published by Cambridge University Press on December 13th 2004
Pages: 284

Len's Summary: Continuation and expansion of Hamilton & Herwig's fine study The Origins of World War I (Cambridge, 2003) this time focussing on key individual actors - monarchs, ministers, military men, political leaders - with divergent agendas.

Victory through Coalition: Britain and France during the First World War

Victory through Coalition: Britain and France during the First World WarVictory through Coalition: Britain and France during the First World War by Elizabeth Greenhalgh
ISBN: 0521096294
Published by Cambridge University Press on January 11th 2009
Pages: 324

Len's Summary: A broad look at coalition warfare with wide use of private correspondence and diaries. // The development of a winning civil-military relationship central to victory in 1918.

German Strategy and the Path to Verdun

German Strategy and the Path to VerdunGerman Strategy and the Path to Verdun by Robert T. Foley
ISBN: 0521044367
Published by Cambridge University Press on November 19th 2007
Pages: 316

Len's Summary: Did Falkenhayn actually plan to wage a battle of attrition at Verdun? Draws on previously unavailable German documents held in Russian archives since WWII. Look for a full review in Camaraderie.

The Great War and Urban Life in Germany: Freiburg, 1914-1918

The Great War and Urban Life in Germany: Freiburg, 1914-1918The Great War and Urban Life in Germany: Freiburg, 1914-1918 by Roger Chickering, Paul Kennedy, Jay Murray Winter
ISBN: 0521852560
Published by Cambridge University Press on February 26th 2007
Pages: 646

Len's Summary: A social history by a distinguished historian of World War I and professor at Georgetown University.

Naval Blockades in Peace and War: An Economic History since 1750

Naval Blockades in Peace and War: An Economic History since 1750Naval Blockades in Peace and War: An Economic History since 1750 by Lance E. Davis, Stanley L. Engerman
ISBN: 1107406153
Published by Cambridge University Press on July 9th 2012
Pages: 464

Len's Summary: Detailed qualitative analysis of the effectiveness of blockades including the Napoleonic Wars, the War of 1812, the American Civil War and World Wars One and Two.

Touch and Intimacy in First World War Literature

Touch and Intimacy in First World War LiteratureTouch and Intimacy in First World War Literature by Santanu Das
ISBN: 9780521066877
Published by Cambridge University Press on June 19th 2008
Genres: Literary Criticism
Pages: 284

Len's Summary: A study in the tragic obsession with the wounded body drawing on nurses' diaries and memoirs.

The Unfinished Peace after World War I: America, Britain and the Stabilisation of Europe, 1919-1932

The Unfinished Peace after World War I: America, Britain and the Stabilisation of Europe, 1919-1932The Unfinished Peace after World War I: America, Britain and the Stabilisation of Europe, 1919-1932 by Patrick O. Cohrs
ISBN: 9780521723435
Published by Cambridge University Press on February 11th 2008
Genres: Political Science, International Relations
Pages: 708

Len's Summary: An original and revisionist thesis arguing that the real peace settlement of WWI was not incorporated in Versailles, but rather in the London reparations settlement of 1924 (the Dawes Plan) and the Locarno security pact of 1925 which fostered German reintegration into the community of nations and laid the realistic foundations for a European security system.

The Indian Army on the Western Front: India’s Expeditionary Force to France and Belgium in the First World War

The Indian Army on the Western Front: India’s Expeditionary Force to France and Belgium in the First World WarThe Indian Army on the Western Front: India's Expeditionary Force to France and Belgium in the First World War by George Morton-Jack
ISBN: 9781107027466
Published by Cambridge University Press on April 7th 2014
Pages: 348

Len's Summary: Two divisions of British Indian Army troops arrived in France six weeks after the outbreak of war, a frontier constabulary utterly unprepared and ill-equipped for modern warfare. Still, as the only readily available reserves, they provided the difference between defeat and survival for an outnumbered BEF.

Kaiser Wilhelm II: A Concise Life

Kaiser Wilhelm II: A Concise LifeKaiser Wilhelm II: A Concise Life by John Rohl
ISBN: 9781107420779
Published by Cambridge University Press on August 21st 2014
Pages: 261

Len's Summary: A short version of Röhl’s multi-volume biography of a man emotionally and intellectually unfit to rule over Europe’s most powerful country.

War Land on the Eastern Front: Culture, National Identity, and German Occupation in World War I

War Land on the Eastern Front: Culture, National Identity, and German Occupation in World War IWar Land on the Eastern Front by Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius
ISBN: 9780521023900
Published by Cambridge University Press on May 18th 2000
Genres: History, Europe, Eastern, General, Military, World War I
Pages: 320

Len's Summary: A book about German occupation policy and operations in Lithuania, the Baltics, Ruthenia and parts of Poland from 1915 through 1919 and the Soviet Red Army invasion. Dr. Liulevicius is a frequent speaker at WFA seminars, and professor of History at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Great War, Total War: Combat and Mobilization on the Western Front, 1914-1918

Great War, Total War: Combat and Mobilization on the Western Front, 1914-1918Great War, Total War: Combat and Mobilization on the Western Front, 1914-1918 by Roger Chickering, Stig Forster
ISBN: 0521773520
Published by Cambridge University Press on September 11th 2000
Genres: History, Europe, General, Military, World War I
Pages: 584

Len's Summary: Drawn from a 1996 conference in Switzerland this volume has papers from many leading German historians. Something for everyone specialist and generalist alike.

German Anglophobia in the Great War, 1914-1918

German Anglophobia in the Great War, 1914-1918German Anglophobia and the Great War, 1914-1918 by Matthew Stibbe
ISBN: 9780521782968
Published by Cambridge University Press on May 3rd 2001
Pages: 282

Len's Summary: Scholarly analysis of German attitudes toward Great Britain during WWI and the related development of extreme right wing political networks in Munich and Berlin.

Helmuth von Moltke and the Origins of the First World War

Helmuth von Moltke and the Origins of the First World WarHelmuth von Moltke and the Origins of the First World War by Annika Mombauer
ISBN: 9780521791014
Published by Cambridge University Press on April 19th 2001
Genres: Biography & Autobiography, Historical, History, Europe, General, Military, World War I, World War II, Juvenile Nonfiction, Military & Wars
Pages: 325

Ireland, the Great War and the Geography of Remembrance

Ireland, the Great War and the Geography of RemembranceIreland, the Great War and the Geography of Remembrance by Nuala C. Johnson
ISBN: 9780521826167
Published by Cambridge University Press on May 29th 2003
Genres: History, Europe, Great Britain, Ireland, Modern, 20th Century, Historical Geography, Science, Earth Sciences, Geography
Pages: 192

Len's Summary: Also recommended: Dr. Edward Brynn’s article on The Conscription Debate in Ireland during the First World War presented at the September 2005 WFA national seminar at Newport News and available from Carl Barna at kmbarna@msn.com

The Dynamics of Military Revolution, 1300-2050

The Dynamics of Military Revolution, 1300-2050The Dynamics of Military Revolution, 1300-2050 by MacGregor Knox, Williamson Murray
ISBN: 9780521800792
Published by Cambridge University Press on August 27th 2001
Genres: History, Revolutionary, World, Renaissance, Modern, General, Political Science, Political Freedom, Technology & Engineering, Military Science
Pages: 203

Len's Summary: Chapters by Brigadier Jonathan Bailey on Western Front battlefields and the genesis of modern warfare, and Dr. Holger Herwig on the battle fleet revolution of 1885-1914. Recommended by WFA and TGWS member Bob Denison.

Ireland and the Great War

Ireland and the Great WarIreland and the Great War by Keith Jeffery
ISBN: 9780521773232
Published by Cambridge University Press on November 9th 2000
Genres: History, Europe, Great Britain, Military, World War I, Modern, 20th Century
Pages: 208

Len's Summary: Covers the experiences of both Protestant and Catholic formations.

The Kaiser: New Research on Wilhelm II’s Role in Imperial Germany

The Kaiser: New Research on Wilhelm II’s Role in Imperial GermanyThe Kaiser: New Research on Wilhelm II’s Role in Imperial Germany by Annika Mombauer, Wilhelm Deist
ISBN: 0521824087
Published by Cambridge University Press on November 17th 2003
Genres: History, Europe, General, Biography & Autobiography, Historical, World, Military, World War I, Modern, 20th Century
Pages: 299

Len's Summary: Analyses a complex political system and a complex ruler under severe wartime stress.

Capital Cities at War: Paris, London, Berlin 1914-1919, Volume 2: A Cultural History

Capital Cities at War: Paris, London, Berlin 1914-1919, Volume 2: A Cultural HistoryCapital Cities at War: Paris, London, Berlin 1914-1919, Volume 2: A Cultural History by Jay Winter
ISBN: 0521870437
Published by Cambridge University Press on September 6th 2007
Genres: History, Europe, General, France, Great Britain, Military, World War I, Modern, 20th Century, Social History, Social Science, Anthropology, Cultural
Pages: 545

Len's Summary: The first volume in this useful and finely-crafted comparative study covered social and economic effects of the war; this volume concentrates on the cultural impact of the conflict on the home front. Contributors include Tomlinson Prize- winner Annette Becker.

The Great War and Medieval Memory: War, Remembrance and Medievalism in Britain and Germany, 1914-1940

The Great War and Medieval Memory: War, Remembrance and Medievalism in Britain and Germany, 1914-1940The Great War and Medieval Memory: War, Remembrance and Medievalism in Britain and Germany, 1914-1940 by Stefan Goebel
ISBN: 0521123062
Published by Cambridge University Press on November 12th 2009
Pages: 357

Len's Summary: The author believes that people in Britain and Germany grappled with the horrors of industrialized war by arranging the sacrifices of its victims on a historical continuum stretching back to and emphasizing the Middle Ages. // A comparative history of the cultural impact of war.

Enduring the Great War: Combat, Morale and Collapse in the German and British Armies, 1914-1918

Enduring the Great War: Combat, Morale and Collapse in the German and British Armies, 1914-1918Enduring the Great War: Combat, Morale and Collapse in the German and British Armies, 1914-1918 by Alexander Watson
ISBN: 9780521123082
Published by Cambridge University Press on November 12th 2009
Genres: History, Europe, General, Military, World War I, Modern, 20th Century, Social History, Great Britain
Pages: 308

Len's Summary: Comparative scholarly study of German and British morale. The author argues that at the heart of armies’ robustness lay human resilience; that the “ordered surrender” by junior officers led to Germany’s defeat in 1918.

The Great Naval Game: Britain and Germany in the Age of Empire

The Great Naval Game: Britain and Germany in the Age of EmpireThe Great Naval Game: Britain and Germany in the Age of Empire by Jan Rüger
ISBN: 0521114616
Published by Cambridge University Press on June 25th 2009
Pages: 354

Len's Summary: An analysis of the Anglo-German naval race. // Anglo-German antagonism fanned by popular pro-naval sentiments.

Jews in the Russian Army, 1827-1917: Drafted into Modernity

Jews in the Russian Army, 1827-1917: Drafted into ModernityJews in the Russian Army, 1827-1917: Drafted into Modernity by Yohanan Petrovsky-Shtern
ISBN: 0521515734
Published by Cambridge University Press on October 1st 2008
Genres: History, General, Europe, Eastern, Military, Social Science, Jewish Studies, Technology & Engineering, Military Science
Pages: 326

Len's Summary: The military experience of one and a half million Jews, communal responses to conscription, efforts at conversion, alleged draft evasion and Jewish military performance.

Douglas Haig and the First World War

Douglas Haig and the First World WarDouglas Haig and the First World War by J. P. Harris
ISBN: 9780521158770
Published by Cambridge University Press on October 15th 2009
Genres: History, Military, General, Modern, 20th Century, World War I, Great Britain
Pages: 666

Len's Summary: Accuses Haig of first underestimating German strength in 1916 and then exaggerating German’s power in 1918, advocating a compromise peace. A new biography which has stoked another round in the never-ending controversy over the most pilloried military leader in British history. The author is a lecturer at Sandhurst.

The Unquiet Western Front: Britain’s Role in Literature and History

The Unquiet Western Front: Britain’s Role in Literature and HistoryThe Unquiet Western Front: Britain's Role in Literature and History by Brian Bond
ISBN: 9780521036412
Published by Cambridge University Press on April 30th 2007
Genres: History, Europe, Great Britain, General, Social Science, Media Studies, Literary Criticism, Social History, Military, World War I
Pages: 140

Len's Summary: First published in 2002, this is a critique of the anti-war culture that pervades writing and teaching The Great War. Favorably reviewed by History Today as a bid to rescue WWI history from popular myth.

The Ottoman Road to War in 1914: The Ottoman Empire and the First World War

The Ottoman Road to War in 1914: The Ottoman Empire and the First World WarThe Ottoman Road to War in 1914: The Ottoman Empire and the First World War by Mustafa Aksakal
ISBN: 9780521175258
Published by Cambridge University Press on December 9th 2010
Genres: History, Europe, General, Middle East, Military, World War I, World
Pages: 234

Len's Summary: A revisionist history of Ottoman “Young Turk” politics and policies leading to belligerency on the side of Germany.

The Resurrection and Collapse of Empire in Habsburg Serbia, 1914-1918

The Resurrection and Collapse of Empire in Habsburg Serbia, 1914-1918The Resurrection and Collapse of Empire in Habsburg Serbia, 1914-1918 by Jonathan E. Gumz
ISBN: 9780521896276
Published by Cambridge University Press on June 15th 2009
Genres: History, Europe, General, Modern, 20th Century, Military
Pages: 288

Len's Summary: Efforts to denationalize and depoliticize occupied Serbia and bring it back into the Dual Monarchy.

The Last Great War: British Society and the First World War

The Last Great War: British Society and the First World WarThe Last Great War: British Society and the First World War by Adrian Gregory
ISBN: 9780521728836
Published by Cambridge University Press on October 16th 2008
Genres: History, Europe, Great Britain, Modern, 20th Century, Military, General, World War I, Social History
Pages: 362

Len's Summary: A new social history. // A ground-breaking new cultural and social history of the British home front.

Light Horse: A History of Australia’s Mounted Arm

Light Horse: A History of Australia’s Mounted ArmLight Horse: A History of Australia's Mounted Arm by Jean Bou
ISBN: 9780521197083
Published by Cambridge University Press on November 24th 2009
Genres: History, Australia & New Zealand, Military, General, Other
Pages: 361

Len's Summary: The evolution of the famed light horse mounted infantry regiments from pre-federation days to WWI to their withering away in 1944.

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.