[BOOK REVIEW] The Sleepwalkers

[poesel71]

I'm currently reading "The Sleepwalkers: How Europe went to War" about how WWI started.
I like the book although enjoying it would be an euphemism. It is at points very tedious but OTOH very informative. But I found out that I knew next to nothing about this war. Not surprising because 'the war' here means WWII and WWI is the forgotten prequel.

The Sleepwalkers ends with the beginning of the war. What book to read next which is mainly about the war? What happened politically & militarily? It would be nice if the main focus is on 14-18 and not what happened before or after.

Thanks!

 

[Rico]

John Keegan's The First World War is a very good general history of the conflict -- there is also a very good illustrated edition of the book as well
-- I have both ... then there's more specialised titles to move on from there..

I just started reading Margaret Macmillan's Peacemakers about the post WW1 peace conference -- fascinating as well... she writes better than the guy who wrote Sleepwalkers ... she also has a book on march to WW1 The War That Ended Peace -- much better read.

 

[poesel71]

Thanks - I've put them on the list.

 

[Rico]

A couple more specialised:

The Marne, 1914: The Opening of World War I and the Battle that Changed the World -- by Holger H. Herwig

And this one is fascinating, the experiences of the British tank men in WW1 : Band of Brigands: The First Men in Tanks -- by Christopher Campbell

Would love to find a book about the French tank experiences of WW1 -- most Ennglish books sort of treat it with "oh, the French also had tanks..."

 

[Vartuoosi]

Barbara Tuchman's The Guns of August is an excellent book on the opening moves of the war.

 

[jby]

For the italian front:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7266415.Mark_Thompson
For the eastern front:



https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/334382.Norman_Stone
For Austria:

 

[Badger73]

Barbara Tuchman's The Guns of August is an excellent book on the opening moves of the war.

I concur and recommend it too.

 

[poesel71]

First of all thanks for all the recommendations!
I'm through with Keegans "The First World War". I liked it and it is a good read.
One critic on Amazon wrote that it centres too much on the war and the generals. That is true but since that was the topic I wanted to read about it came as a plus .
For me it was also a bit too centred on the Allies but not much and being an English book written by an Englishman it is not a real surprise. Next topics of interest would be what happened in Russia & Germany in and after the war but not with the main focus on the military but on the political side of side. To better understand why WWI became WWII.