Nothing I like to do more than help someone learn.

The best book on the start of the war is Barbara Tuchman's "The Guns of August"
http://www.amazon.com/Guns-August-Pulit ... 0345476093

I'd also recommend Tuchman's "The Proud Tower" to understand the world before the War, it will make you weep:
http://www.amazon.com/Guns-August-Pulit ... 0345476093

The best book on the end of the war is:
http://www.amazon.com/Paris-1919-Months ... orld+war+i

One of the best political examinations is here:
http://www.amazon.com/Cataclysm-First-W ... pd_sim_b_2

I think the best version of how the US was inserted into the mess is Thomas Fleming's "The Illusion of Victory"
http://www.amazon.com/Illusion-Victory- ... orld+war+i

The best book on the Italian effort is here, it's one of the best military histories I've ever read:
http://www.amazon.com/White-War-Death-I ... orld+war+i

One of the only available examinations of the German and Austro-Hungarian efforts is here and generally has received high marks:
http://www.amazon.com/First-World-War-A ... orld+war+i

Alister Horne's "Verdun" may very well be one of the top 5 military history books of all time, his writing and descriptions of the Battle of Verdun and the immense slaughter helped shaped my perspective on leading troops:
http://www.amazon.com/Price-Glory-Verdu ... rds=verdun

The folly of Gallipoli is best described by Peter Hart:
http://www.amazon.com/Gallipoli-Peter-H ... =gallipoli

That'll get you started...

SK790 wrote:Thanks to LG, smitty, TV, and others for this information. I found a lot of it very informative and interesting; and I kind of what to learn more about it now.

I know you have all recommended books so far in this thread, but what would you recommend for someone trying to learn more about WWI when they don't really know too much about it? Something that goes into the politics of the postwar would be cool, since that seems to be the most interesting aspect to me.

TV

World War One is dramatically under-emphasized. I took a 300 level class on World War One in undergrad, and it has hooked me ever since...and it should get this kind of treatment in the US today...there are deliberate reasons why WWII was built up over WWI...mainly from the social, political and economic areas. WWI was NOT a popular war in the US...

LG

TenuredVulture wrote:

SK790 wrote:Thanks to LG, smitty, TV, and others for this information. I found a lot of it very informative and interesting; and I kind of what to learn more about it now.

I know you have all recommended books so far in this thread, but what would you recommend for someone trying to learn more about WWI when they don't really know too much about it? Something that goes into the politics of the postwar would be cool, since that seems to be the most interesting aspect to me.

I don't think Hochschild's book requires much in the way of background. But it doesn't much go into postwar politics. Its focus is the British, and spends a great deal of time on the British left and pacifist movements. It also discusses how the Boer War was a kind of prelude to total war, a war without rules that made little distinction between soldier and civilian.

I don't know much about history curricula, but my sense is that WWI is under-emphasized. I'm in the beginning phases of some research on Anglo-American political thought of the late 40s through the early 60s, but I think that story really starts with WWI. Bertrand Russell's involvement in the British anti-war movement is perhaps where I'll start as prologue.

Luzinski's Gut wrote:Nothing I like to do more than help someone learn.

The best book on the start of the war is Barbara Tuchman's "The Guns of August"
http://www.amazon.com/Guns-August-Pulit ... 0345476093

I'd also recommend Tuchman's "The Proud Tower" to understand the world before the War, it will make you weep:
http://www.amazon.com/Guns-August-Pulit ... 0345476093

The best book on the end of the war is:
http://www.amazon.com/Paris-1919-Months ... orld+war+i

One of the best political examinations is here:
http://www.amazon.com/Cataclysm-First-W ... pd_sim_b_2

I think the best version of how the US was inserted into the mess is Thomas Fleming's "The Illusion of Victory"
http://www.amazon.com/Illusion-Victory- ... orld+war+i

The best book on the Italian effort is here, it's one of the best military histories I've ever read:
http://www.amazon.com/White-War-Death-I ... orld+war+i

One of the only available examinations of the German and Austro-Hungarian efforts is here and generally has received high marks:
http://www.amazon.com/First-World-War-A ... orld+war+i

Alister Horne's "Verdun" may very well be one of the top 5 military history books of all time, his writing and descriptions of the Battle of Verdun and the immense slaughter helped shaped my perspective on leading troops:
http://www.amazon.com/Price-Glory-Verdu ... rds=verdun

The folly of Gallipoli is best described by Peter Hart:
http://www.amazon.com/Gallipoli-Peter-H ... =gallipoli

That'll get you started...

SK790 wrote:Thanks to LG, smitty, TV, and others for this information. I found a lot of it very informative and interesting; and I kind of what to learn more about it now.

I know you have all recommended books so far in this thread, but what would you recommend for someone trying to learn more about WWI when they don't really know too much about it? Something that goes into the politics of the postwar would be cool, since that seems to be the most interesting aspect to me.

Thanks, LG. I think I'm going to hit the local library tomorrow to see what they have there first and then go from there, but I've definitely noted a few of these recommendations and hopefully will be checking them out sometime soon.

The Military Channel showed a series about the First World War. It is outstanding. If you ever get a chance to catch an episode or three, you would find it pretty fascinating. Even addressed the German campaign in Africa.

It's based on a book by Hew Strachan. I think I may pick up that book now that I'm all jazzed up regarding this topic.

It's the 100th anniversary of the start of it--the war actually started in July, but it's never too early to start.

Looking forward to reading The War That Ended Peace by Margaret MacMillan after I finish Bk ii of Game of Thrones.

smitty wrote:The Military Channel showed a series about the First World War. It is outstanding. If you ever get a chance to catch an episode or three, you would find it pretty fascinating. Even addressed the German campaign in Africa.

It's based on a book by Hew Strachan. I think I may pick up that book now that I'm all jazzed up regarding this topic.

I think I learned everything I need to know about the German campaign in Africa by watching The Rat Patrol as a kid. I would stay up to 4am in the summers and watch that show preceded and proceeded by episodes of The Twilight Zone.

I assume The Rat Patrol was completely accurate and did not make the Americans look any better than they were.

Having read the first few pages of the The War to End Peace, the Germans don't look too good. And the war just started. They invade France through neutral Belgium, get mad that the Belgians resist, so they torch the place.

the Belgium invasion is fascinating what with the Belgian fortifications kicking their infantry's ass until the Germans brought in artillery so much bigger than anything anyone had ever seen before

the Germans working those cannons would set the fuse, go three hundred yards away, and then they still had to make sure they kept their mouths open or their ears would get blown out

Great thread. I've read a ton about World War Two, but very little (if any) about World War One. This is fascinating, I'll be picking up some of those books for sure. Thanks for the recommendations, and keep it coming. This is great.

http://www.dancarlin.com//disp.php/hhar ... reat%20War

Show 50 - Blueprint for Armageddon I

The Krupp guns are/were incredible.

The Paris Gun was mind blowing, here's a link to a short example of the technology involved...
http://www.firstworldwar.com/atoz/parisgun.htm

The Allies never found any blueprint, engineering or any trace of the Paris Gun after the War ended, and they looked HARD.

There were also superheavy howitzers in WWI, train mounted.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bertha_(howitzer)

In World War II, Krupp came back to the table, these time with superheavy howitzers, also mounted on trains.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl-Ger%C3%A4t
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwerer_Gustav

They were used in Russia and along the Eastern Front primarily. One of the Gustav's broke open a deeply buried ammo dump during the Siege of Sebastapol in the Crimea...built in the bedrock under the Black Sea!