Churchill and the Dardanelles

Churchill and the DardanellesChurchill and the Dardanelles by Christopher M. Bell
ISBN: 9780191006999
Published by Oxford University Press on January 12, 2017
Genres: History, Europe, Great Britain, General, Military, Modern, 20th Century, Biography & Autobiography, Historical, World War I, World War II
Pages: 464

A reassessment of Churchill’s role in the conception, planning and execution of the Dardanelles fiasco, as well as an examination of the subsequent inquiry and the long-standing controversy over the operation. Bell previously wrote Churchill and Sea Power, and is an expert on the great man’s relationship with the Royal Navy. His account draws on a mass of archival material, and provides a more nuanced view of the people and politics that contributed to the decision-making process.

(Notes by Steve McLaughlin)

The Last Battle: Victory, Defeat, and the End of World War I

The Last Battle: Victory, Defeat, and the End of World War IThe Last Battle: Victory, Defeat, and the End of World War I by Peter Hart
ISBN: 0190872985
Published by Oxford University Press on March 1, 2018
Genres: Strategic Studies
Pages: 464

The author is oral historian at the Imperial War Museum in London and has access to large archives of original testimonies…. describing and enlivening the final battles of 1918.

The author does admit that his “emphasis as a British historian is on the British Army with an appreciative reflection on the massive contributions of victory made by the French, American and Belgian forces.”

Politics and personalities involved in the cease-fire agreements were complex and often cantankerous…. [and left] “an unpleasant taste in the mouth when one considers that men were being maimed and dying in huge numbers with every day that passed.”

Ironically, it didn’t take long before the business of “battlefield tourism” began to flourish…. [while veterans now] “had to fight to retain their self-respect in a society that did not seem to care one iota for their welfare.”

This is a rich and comprehensive book, one I can certainly recommend.

Abridged from review by David F. Beer in RoadstotheGreatWar-ww1.blogspot.com/

Dennis Showalter: “…well-paced analytical text with first-hand accounts by participants.”

New York Journal of Books: “…an exceptional collection of personal narratives….”

The Path to War: How the First World War Created Modern America

The Path to War: How the First World War Created Modern AmericaThe Path to War: How the First World War Created Modern America by Michael S. Neiberg
ISBN: 0190464968
Published by Oxford University Press on October 3, 2016
Genres: Strategic Studies
Pages: 272

Winner of the 2016 Tomlinson Prize Award

Neiberg takes a bottom-up approach toward understanding why America finally associated itself with the Entente in the fight against Germany. His major thesis is that Americans were way ahead of the government, and especially President Woodrow Wilson, in understanding that we had to be part of the war “to save civilization” and suppress Germany’s aggressive ambitions.

Memoirs, newspaper columns, magazine articles, private and public letters, and the speeches of Preparedness advocates show us the organic change taking place from 1914 to 1917 in our so-called isolationist population, and how the pressure from ordinary people, and his own advisers, dragged Wilson to a place he did not want to go. The chapter titled “Awaiting the Overt Act” is especially suspenseful, even if you know what’s coming next.

Neiberg’s refreshing viewpoint emphasizing the idealism, thoughtfulness, and good sense of the American public is certainly persuasive. Once again, his natural writing style makes this book an enjoyable as well as informative endeavor that I can recommend without hesitation.

Abridged from review by Jolie Velazquez in RoadstotheGreatWar-ww1.blogspot.com/

[Army Times described it “…eminently readable, impressively researched, and remarkably thorough…”—Ed.]

Financing the First World War

Financing the First World WarFinancing the First World War by Hew Strachan
ISBN: 0199257272
on December 1st 2004
Pages: 278

Len's Summary: Key sections from Strachan's history To War revised and reprinted as individual essays on the gold standard, financial mobilization, budgets of the belligerents, taxation, domestic and foreign borrowing. First in a series of individual paperbacks be excerpted from Strachan's award-winning trilogy on The Great War still in progress. The author is a member of the panel which selects the winner of WFA's Annual Norman B. Tomlinson, Jr. Book Award.

The First World War in Africa

The First World War in AfricaThe First World War in Africa by Hew Strachan
ISBN: 0199257280
on December 1st 2004
Pages: 234

Len's Summary: Another spin-off from Strachan's massive three volume work on WWI.

The Old Army: A Portrait of the American Army in Peacetime, 1784-1898

The Old Army: A Portrait of the American Army in Peacetime, 1784-1898The Old Army: A Portrait of the American Army in Peacetime, 1784-1898 by Edward M. Coffman
ISBN: 0195045556
Published by Oxford University Press on December 8th 1988
Pages: 560

Len's Summary: This volume begins with the Spanish-American War and Philippine Insurrection and covers the major reforms instituted by War Secretary Elihu Root that created the modern general staff system and helped prepare the Army for World War One. Of particular interest to Western Front Association members is Coffman's analysis of the colonial Army's experience in the Philippines and later on the Western Front, as well as the postwar army.

The Lights that Failed: European International History, 1919-1933

The Lights that Failed: European International History, 1919-1933The Lights that Failed: European International History, 1919-1933 by Zara S. Steiner
ISBN: 0198221142
on May 12th 2005
Pages: 850

Len's Summary: Challenges the assumption that the Versailles Treaty led to WWII. A second volume, Triumph of the Night, will examine the years from 1933 to the early 1940s.

Boys in Khaki, Girls in Print: Women’s Literary Responses to the Great War 1914-1918

Boys in Khaki, Girls in Print: Women’s Literary Responses to the Great War 1914-1918Boys in Khaki, Girls in Print: Women's Literary Responses to the Great War 1914-1918 by Jane Potter
ISBN: 0199543216
on December 1st 2008
Pages: 257

Len's Summary: Popular British literature in WWI.

The Great Game of Genocide: Imperialism, Nationalism, and the Destruction of the Ottoman Armenians

The Great Game of Genocide: Imperialism, Nationalism, and the Destruction of the Ottoman ArmeniansThe Great Game of Genocide: Imperialism, Nationalism, and the Destruction of the Ottoman Armenians by Donald Bloxham
ISBN: 9780199226887
Published by Oxford University Press on 2007
Pages: 329

Len's Summary: A non- partisan account of the genocide and the impact of Ottoman relations with German, the Entente and America. Published to coincide with the 90th anniversary of the beginning of the massacre of Armenians, April 24, 1915, a newly relevant date given the impending negotiations for Turkish entry in the European Union.

Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson: A Political Soldier

Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson: A Political SoldierField Marshal Sir Henry Wilson: A Political Soldier by Keith Jeffery
ISBN: 9780199239672
Published by Oxford University Press on January 1st 2008
Pages: 325

Len's Summary: The story of a passionate Irish unionist who was one of England's most influential soldiers before and during WWI. Wilson was BEF liaison to the French Army and Western Front corps commander before replacing Sir William Robertson as Chief of the Imperial General Staff in February 1918. He was assassinated by the IRA in 1922.

Literature and the Great War, 1914-1918

Literature and the Great War, 1914-1918Literature and the Great War, 1914-1918 by Randall Stevenson
ISBN: 019959645X
on June 1st 2013
Genres: Literary Criticism
Pages: 262

Len's Summary: Looks at all genres of WWI writing, including propaganda and poetry, and assesses their impact on post-war popular imagination. // Looks at all genres of WWI writing, including propaganda and poetry, and its impact on post-war popular imagination. Literary history.

Empires at War: 1911-1923

Empires at War: 1911-1923Empires at War: 1911-1923 by Robert Gerwarth, Erez Manela
ISBN: 019873493X
on October 1st 2015
Pages: 304

Len's Summary: Looks beyond Europe and the Western Front to examine why this was a truly global conflagration leading to the dissolution of empires. It starts with the Italio-Ottoman war over Libya, and ends with the Greco-Turkish War, the Treaty of Lausanne and declaration of the Turkish Republic.

Margot Asquith’s Great War Diary 1914-1916: The View from Downing Street

Margot Asquith’s Great War Diary 1914-1916: The View from Downing StreetMargot Asquith's Great War Diary 1914-1916: The View from Downing Street by Margot Asquith, Michael George Brock, Eleanor Brock
ISBN: 0198229771
Published by Oxford University Press on August 1st 2014
Pages: 417

Len's Summary: The outspoken wife of UK Prime Minister Herbert Asquith tells almost all.

The Politics of Wounds: Military Patients and Medical Power in the First World War

The Politics of Wounds: Military Patients and Medical Power in the First World WarThe Politics of Wounds: Military Patients and Medical Power in the First World War by Ana Carden-Coyne
ISBN: 9780199698264
Published by Oxford University Press on October 1st 2014
Genres: Social History
Pages: 382

Len's Summary: Social history; explores patient experiences.

The Oxford Illustrated History of the First World War: New Edition

The Oxford Illustrated History of the First World War: New EditionThe Oxford Illustrated History of the First World War: New Edition by Hew Strachan
ISBN: 0199663386
on May 1st 2014
Genres: Military, General
Pages: 379

Len's Summary: First published in 2008 this new edition contains essays by several established historians.

The Aesthetics of Loss: German Women’s Art of the First World War

The Aesthetics of Loss: German Women’s Art of the First World WarThe Aesthetics of Loss: German Women's Art of the First World War by Claudia Siebrecht
ISBN: 9780199656684
Published by Oxford University Press on September 19th 2013
Genres: Social History, Art, Gender Studies, Women
Pages: 208

Len's Summary: The unique responses of German women to wartime tragedy.

The First World War: The Outbreak, Events, and Aftermath

The First World War: The Outbreak, Events, and AftermathThe First World War: The Outbreak, Events, and Aftermath by Keith Robbins
ISBN: 9780192191632
on 2001
Genres: History, Military, World War I
Pages: 186

Len's Summary: A concise survey history of the military and political aspects of the conflict in paperback; a reissue of the 1984 version.

The First World War

The First World WarThe First World War by Michael Howard
ISBN: 9780192853622
Published by Oxford University Press on 2002
Genres: History, Military, World War I, Modern, 20th Century
Pages: 154

Len's Summary: One of several new one-volume monographs surveying the war on all fronts. For non-specialists. Another recent and richly illustrated one volume treatment by the same title has been produced by Hugh Strachan from Viking Penguin (2004), also in paperback.

The Gun and the Pen: Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Faulkner, and the Fiction of Mobilization

The Gun and the Pen: Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Faulkner, and the Fiction of MobilizationThe Gun and the Pen: Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Faulkner, and the Fiction of Mobilization by Keith Gandal
ISBN: 9780199744572
on July 31st 2008
Genres: Literary Criticism, American, General, United States
Pages: 288

Len's Summary: Analyses post-war fiction of the “Lost Generation” and finds it less anti-war than anti-mobilization in reaction to the authors personal rejection for service with the US forces.

Uncle Sam Wants You: World War I and the Making of the Modern American Citizen

Uncle Sam Wants You: World War I and the Making of the Modern American CitizenUncle Sam Wants You: World War I and the Making of the Modern American Citizen by Christopher Capozzola
ISBN: 0199734798
Published by Oxford University Press on April 12th 2010
Genres: History, Military, World War I, Law, Legal History, Political Science
Pages: 334

Len's Summary: America turns over unprecedented power to the Federal Government creating a new American state and a new citizen. One of a series of recent social and political histories reexamining the American home front society and politics in WWI. The author is Associate Professor of History at MIT.

A History of the Great War: World War One and the International Crisis of the Early 20th Century

A History of the Great War: World War One and the International Crisis of the Early 20th CenturyA History of the Great War: World War One and the International Crisis of the Early 20th Century by Eric Dorn Brose
ISBN: 9780195181944
Published by Oxford University Press on April 10th 2009
Pages: 433

Len's Summary: A new political history of the war.

Hitler’s First War: Adolf Hitler, the Men of the List Regiment, and the First World War

Hitler’s First War: Adolf Hitler, the Men of the List Regiment, and the First World WarHitler's First War: Adolf Hitler, the Men of the List Regiment, and the First World War by Thomas Weber
ISBN: 9780199226382
Published by Oxford University Press on September 29th 2011
Genres: Biography & Autobiography, Political, History, Europe, Germany, World War I
Pages: 450

Len's Summary: Draws on the writings of Hitler’s fellow soldiers of the List Regiment to offer a different view that that presented in Mein Kampf; challenges common wisdom that WWI was a seminal catastrophe for Gemany. See also: Corporal Hitler and the Great War.

The Rising: Ireland: Easter 1916

The Rising: Ireland: Easter 1916The Rising: Ireland: Easter 1916 by Fearghal McGarry
ISBN: 9780199605972
Published by Oxford University Press on September 5th 2011
Genres: History, Europe, Ireland, Social History
Pages: 365

Len's Summary: Based on the testimony of participants.

Death in War and Peace: A History of Loss and Grief in England, 1914-1970

Death in War and Peace: A History of Loss and Grief in England, 1914-1970Death in War and Peace: A History of Loss and Grief in England, 1914-1970 by Pat Jalland
ISBN: 9780199651887
Published by Oxford University Press on September 27th 2012
Genres: History, Europe, Great Britain, Modern, 20th Century, Social Science, Death & Dying, Social History
Pages: 336

Len's Summary: A study of death and mourning in British society.

Gallipoli

GallipoliGallipoli by Peter Hart
ISBN: 9780199361274
Published by Oxford University Press on March 5th 2014
Genres: History, Australia & New Zealand, Europe, General, Military, World War I
Pages: 534

Len's Summary: British oral historian Hart reexamines the failed Gallipoli campaign drawing on letters and memoirs of soldiers on both sides. Lively and very readable.

Edward Thomas: Prose Writings: A Selected Edition, Volume 1: Autobiographies

Edward Thomas: Prose Writings: A Selected Edition, Volume 1: AutobiographiesEdward Thomas: Prose Writings: A Selected Edition, Volume 1: Autobiographies by Guy Cuthbertson
ISBN: 9780199586950
on March 31st 2011
Genres: Biography & Autobiography, Literary, Literary Criticism, Poetry, General
Pages: 400

Len's Summary: Best remembered for his poetry which was published posthumously, Thomas (killed at the Battle of Arras in 1917) was appreciated by contemporaries for his prose.

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.

Spies in Uniform: British Military and Naval Intelligence on the Eve of the First World War

Spies in Uniform: British Military and Naval Intelligence on the Eve of the First World WarSpies in Uniform: British Military and Naval Intelligence on the Eve of the First World War by Matthew S. Seligmann
ISBN: 9780199261505
Published by Oxford University Press on February 9th 2006
Pages: 272

Len's Summary: The author argues the thesis that Great Britain had good and sufficient reason, based on solid intelligence, to suspect aggressive German intentions in the years leading up to 1914.

The Royal Navy and the German Threat 1901-1914: Admiralty Plans to Protect British Trade in a War Against Germany

The Royal Navy and the German Threat 1901-1914: Admiralty Plans to Protect British Trade in a War Against GermanyThe Royal Navy and the German Threat 1901-1914: Admiralty Plans to Protect British Trade in a War Against Germany by Matthew S. Seligmann
ISBN: 9780199574032
on May 24th 2012
Genres: History, Europe, Great Britain, Military, World War I, Naval, Modern, 20th Century
Pages: 186

Len's Summary: A politico-military history delving into an important, but often ignored aspect of the Anglo-German naval race that preoccupied the Admiralty throughout the Edwardian period. A good companion to Planning Armageddon: British Economic Warfare and the First World War by Nicholas Lambert (Harvard, 2012).

A Kingdom United: Popular Responses to the Outbreak of the First World War in Britain and Ireland

A Kingdom United: Popular Responses to the Outbreak of the First World War in Britain and IrelandA Kingdom United: Popular Responses to the Outbreak of the First World War in Britain and Ireland by Catriona Pennell
ISBN: 0198708467
Published by Oxford University Press on September 24th 2014
Pages: 326

Len's Summary: In the days before public opinion surveys no statistical estimates of popular opinion were possible. This study attempts to approximate such a survey using diaries, journals, letters and newspaper accounts over the first five months of conflict. -- A wide variety of responses, not all positive, drawn from personal correspondence, diaries and the popular press.

Wounded: A New History of the Western Front in World War I

Wounded: A New History of the Western Front in World War IWounded: A New History of the Western Front in World War I by Emily R. Mayhew
ISBN: 9780199322459
Published by Oxford University Press on November 12th 2013
Genres: History, Military, World War I
Pages: 275

The Fall of Tsarism: Untold Stories of the February 1917 Revolution

The Fall of Tsarism: Untold Stories of the February 1917 RevolutionThe Fall of Tsarism: Untold Stories of the February 1917 Revolution by Semion Lyandres
ISBN: 9780198713487
Published by Oxford University Press on September 2nd 2014
Genres: History, Revolutionary, Europe, Russia & the Former Soviet Union, Modern, 20th Century
Pages: 322

Len's Summary: Based on interviews with leading participants in the uprising of February 1917 that toppled the House of Romanov. The author teaches at Notre Dame. -- Draws on new material available from interviews with participants.

Poetry of the First World war: An Anthology

Poetry of the First World war: An AnthologyPoetry of the First World war: An Anthology by Tim Kendall
ISBN: 9780198703204
Published by Oxford University Press on July 15th 2014
Genres: History, Military, World War I, Poetry, Anthologies (multiple authors)
Pages: 312

The Month That Changed the World: July 1914

The Month That Changed the World: July 1914The Month That Changed the World: July 1914 by Gordon Martel
ISBN: 9780199665389
Published by Oxford University Press on July 1st 2014
Pages: 484

Len's Summary: Another look at the crucial weeks leading to war in 1914. // pages, ISBN 978 0 1996 6538 9, £22, $34.95. Step-by-step account of Europe’s slouch into war; a history of missed opportunities.

The First World War Volume I: To Arms

The First World War Volume I: To ArmsThe First World War: Volume I: To Arms by Hew Strachan
ISBN: 9780191608346
on April 26th 2001
Genres: History, World, Military, World War I, Europe, General
Pages: 1248

Len's Summary: This book won WFA’s Norman B.Tomlinson, Jr. Annual Book Prize for 2001.