The First World War

Resumen del libro

Raging for over four years across the tortured landscapes of Europe, Africa and the Middle East, the First World War changed the face of warfare forever. Characterised by slow, costly advances and fierce attrition, the great battles of the Somme, Verdun and Ypres incurred human loss on a scale never previously imagined. This book, with a foreword by Professor Hew Strachan, covers the fighting on all fronts, from Flanders to Tannenberg and from Italy to Palestine. A series of moving extracts from personal letters, diaries and journals bring to life the experiences of soldiers and civilians caught up in the war.

Contents

Introduction

Chronology

The Western Front 1914 16

The road to war

Countdown to war

The Schlieffen Plan

War on the Western Front 1914 16

Private Archie Surfleet

The Home Fronts 1914 16

Winnifred Adair Roberts

How the period ended

The Western Front 1917 18

Strategic choices for 1917

War on the Western Front 1917 18

Private Frederick 'Fen' Noakes

The Home Fronts 1917 18

Caroline Webb

How the war on the Western Front ended

The Eastern Front 1914 18

Russian ambitions

From war to revolution

Portrait of a trooper, an ensign and a sergeant

'Living on cereals and porridge'

How the war in the East ended

The Mediterranean 1914 23

The decline of the Ottoman Empire

The Mediterranean Front 1914 23

Cecil, Harold and Noel Wright

The loose ends of war

The village of Christleton

How the war in the Mediterranean ended

Conclusion and consequences