The Oxford Illustrated History of the First World War
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- Create Date：2021-08-21 08:54:34
- Update Date：2025-09-07
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- Author：Hew Strachan
- ISBN：0198743122
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Summary
The First World War， now a century ago， still shapes the world in which we live， and its legacy lives on， in poetry， in prose， in collective memory and political culture。 By the time the war ended in 1918， millions lay dead。 Three major empires lay shattered by defeat， those of Germany， Austria-Hungary， and the Ottomans。 A fourth， Russia， was in the throes of a revolution that helped define the rest of the twentieth century。
The Oxford Illustrated History of the First World War brings together in one volume many of the most distinguished historians of the conflict， in an account that matches the scale of the events。 From its causes to its consequences， from the Western Front to the Eastern， from the strategy of the politicians to the tactics of the generals， they chart the course of the war and assess its profound political and human consequences。 Chapters on economic mobilization， the impact on women， the role of propaganda， and the rise of socialism establish the wider context of the fighting at sea and in the air， and which ranged on land from the trenches of Flanders to the mountains of the Balkans and the deserts of the Middle East。
First published for the 90th anniversary of the 1918 Armistice， this highly illustrated revised edition contains significant new material to mark the 100th anniversary of the war's outbreak。
The Oxford Illustrated History of the First World War brings together in one volume many of the most distinguished historians of the conflict， in an account that matches the scale of the events。 From its causes to its consequences， from the Western Front to the Eastern， from the strategy of the politicians to the tactics of the generals， they chart the course of the war and assess its profound political and human consequences。 Chapters on economic mobilization， the impact on women， the role of propaganda， and the rise of socialism establish the wider context of the fighting at sea and in the air， and which ranged on land from the trenches of Flanders to the mountains of the Balkans and the deserts of the Middle East。
First published for the 90th anniversary of the 1918 Armistice， this highly illustrated revised edition contains significant new material to mark the 100th anniversary of the war's outbreak。
Reviews
Jill Hutchinson
，
This excellent history of World War I， edited by Hew Strachan， is an anthology of 18 chapters， each written by a different historian （Strachan also wrote one of the chapters）。 And it touches on every aspect of the Great War; origins， strategy， war at sea， economic warfare， propaganda， the peace settlement et al。 I was unfamiliar with some of the authors but the source material was helpful in providing their backgrounds and credentials， which were top-drawer。As in any anthology， there were some s This excellent history of World War I， edited by Hew Strachan， is an anthology of 18 chapters， each written by a different historian （Strachan also wrote one of the chapters）。 And it touches on every aspect of the Great War; origins， strategy， war at sea， economic warfare， propaganda， the peace settlement et al。 I was unfamiliar with some of the authors but the source material was helpful in providing their backgrounds and credentials， which were top-drawer。As in any anthology， there were some sections that were not as interesting or frankly dull but they were few and far between。 And the pictures and maps！！！！。。。sensational。 Many of the pictures I had not seen before and I have read quite a few books on the Great War。 This is a must have book for the reader interested in this era of history。 Highly recommended。 。。。more
Nadhilla Melia
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The last line of this book is "We cannot forget， nor can we truly comprehend" and I'd have to agree。 I probably only understood half of what was being talked about in this book。 This is definitely not for someone who has zero knowledge of the first world war。 I was hoping for a comprehensive and chronological approach to reading about world war I but this book was organized more around different topics and themes。 It's fine but it did mean that we jumped around the timeline a lot and references The last line of this book is "We cannot forget， nor can we truly comprehend" and I'd have to agree。 I probably only understood half of what was being talked about in this book。 This is definitely not for someone who has zero knowledge of the first world war。 I was hoping for a comprehensive and chronological approach to reading about world war I but this book was organized more around different topics and themes。 It's fine but it did mean that we jumped around the timeline a lot and references were made to things that I didn't know about yet。 If I was hoping to understand more about World War I and be able to give a play-by-play of its important events， this book certainly failed to do that for me。 。。。more
Artemisa Perucho-green
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I really liked the anthology format of this book， and the chapters tied into each other really well。 Great read！
Kristy
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Read for class - it was ok - covered a lot of aspects of the war but didn’t have a lot of personality
Milton Lee
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Good for overviews。
Nick Mat
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What I don't like about Good Reads is that they are linked to Amazon， yet you scan the barcode and the latest edition isn't found！ Great book， though read it in conjunction with Fussel's book about WWI What I don't like about Good Reads is that they are linked to Amazon， yet you scan the barcode and the latest edition isn't found！ Great book， though read it in conjunction with Fussel's book about WWI 。。。more
Frederick
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I typically have a problem with anthologies because of the differences in the styles of writing of the various authors。 Putting an anthology together is apparently a difficult undertaking because you are not just gathering experts you respect in a field of inquiry but you are putting together a book to be read。 Of course， some books are designed for reference purposes and not necessarily for reading from cover to cover， or at least it seems that way。 Still， there is nothing more boring than an I typically have a problem with anthologies because of the differences in the styles of writing of the various authors。 Putting an anthology together is apparently a difficult undertaking because you are not just gathering experts you respect in a field of inquiry but you are putting together a book to be read。 Of course， some books are designed for reference purposes and not necessarily for reading from cover to cover， or at least it seems that way。 Still， there is nothing more boring than an anthology that is simply like reading several short stories by different authors with extremely different writing styles and phrasing。 Some anthologies are like an imaginary book that contains an article on bird-watching followed by an article on car repair under the title of Things to Do on Your Day Off。tIt is for this reason that I found this book very easy to read and enjoyable。 It is a well-thought out anthology of expert conclusions and investigation on the origins and the timeline of the war and is eminently readable and therefore enjoyable to read。 The issue for me is that the editor successfully undertook as his stated agenda to give this work an international and complete historical focus， breaking the usual bounds that restrict most histories to a narrower， nationalistic focus。 （10） I think by all of the contributors being on the same page， so to speak， the book opened up the war to me in a more understandable manner， and as a result， a more complete manner than other histories I’ve read and even liked。 So， in general I enjoyed reading it and could even go fairly quickly with understanding because the authors had an idea of where the editor wanted to head。 tAnother reason why it is so easy to read is probably that it is a second edition and the editor and the contributors involved in both editions had the opportunity to improve upon what they did。 I am sure this also made the book readable as in a first edition authors who write and editors who draw together the work of others and write themselves do not have the opportunity to reconsider things the way they do later。 When a book like this， separated in its editions by the better part of two decades， is redone it seems like they have a much better chance of perfecting their work。 I would have to read the first edition to prove this to myself but it seems to me that this would be a good reason why this book is so enjoyable to read and so enlightening。tI just found that the book flowed very well in spite of it being written by the hands of many authors。 The pictures were placed throughout the book， which gave them context。 They weren’t distracting at all as pictures sometimes can be。 I think this way is superior to only having a bunch of pages full of pictures in the center of the book that interrupt the narrative and require me to get my mind back into the words。 In those cases sometimes you cannot even relate to what the pictures are about as the context has long passed by in the narrative。 In the way the editor handled this when you do get to the several pages full of pictures in the center of the book they do not take away too terribly much from the narrative。 But， I will have more to say on that later。tI enjoyed the clarity of the book most of all。 I find myself， in many historical books written by historians rather than popular books on history written by a journalist or an amateur， having to read the book two or even three times to really get the meaning。 The writers in this anthology are pretty clear which for me means that I can finish a chapter and not feel uncertain or frustrated and have to go back。 This is extremely valuable for me in a physical book where I cannot just use the Search function to go back over a thought or a conclusion as I can in an eBook。 One of the things I enjoyed most about this book， then， was that I could catch the information in one sitting。 tOf course， there are things that I did not enjoy about the book。 The main thing I did not enjoy were the several pages of pictures in the center。 I think pages devoted to just pictures are distracting and take away from the narrative， requiring me to have to get my mind back into the narrative， begging me to find the written information somewhere in what I have read to give flesh to the picture above and beyond the caption。 In this book these pictures in the center were completely unnecessary as the spreading out of the pictures in the relevant parts of the book make them part of the narrative and do not take away from the story。 I also prefer maps distributed throughout the book based on context and do not much care for a map section in the end of the book。 I am not going to switch back and forth。 Maps should be provided in context in my opinion。 tFurthermore， while I did appreciate the lists of books for further reading， which is something I look for， I prefer to have endnotes or footnotes throughout。 I recently read a book on Edwardian era history in England and each chapter contained the books from which that chapter’s information came。 It is just my preference but I think each author should have cited his material。 It just seems to make this too much like one of those popular histories for general consumption。 tThis， of course， leads to my concern about the authors not providing the support they should have for the conclusions they drew。 Yes， I know they are all top experts on their subjects but even when a distinguished expert gives his opinions and draws his conclusions I feel that providing the background makes for good accountability。 The more honest you are the more accountability you need to keep any taint of corruption from your work。 Of course， this is just my opinion。 As an example， on page 87， Ulrich Trumpener writes， “The Turkish conquest of oil-rich Baku was greatly resented both by Lenin’s government in Moscow and by the Germans。” Then， I go back to， “Further Reading，” and search in vain for Lenin’s diary or notes of meetings or other such primary sources。 I see nothing but secondary sources。 This makes me feel as if I， the reader， am being held in contempt as a lesser mortal who is not capable of interpreting such things for myself and agreeing with the author or it just makes me suspicious。 But， that is my opinion of course。tSo， in conclusion， this anthology is very enjoyable to read and filled with information that takes it beyond a mere popular history。 And yet， it does not feel the need to provide adequate background information for the observations or conclusions the authors make。 We are just supposed to trust these eminent experts and accept their conclusions without being given the opportunity to follow their trails and reach their heights of understanding。 Still， I would recommend this book to anyone and happily include it in my library to be read a second， perhaps a third， time even if it might be difficult to refer to for the reasons previously given。 。。。more
Alexa Williams
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A solid introduction， but it feels like the book is chasing too many rabbits。 Every chapter is so general to the point where I was sometimes confused， yet it seemed to be trying to do so many things and cover so many topics。 Probably the result of having a different author every chapter。 I read this while listening to Dan Carlin's hardcore history podcast。 A solid introduction， but it feels like the book is chasing too many rabbits。 Every chapter is so general to the point where I was sometimes confused， yet it seemed to be trying to do so many things and cover so many topics。 Probably the result of having a different author every chapter。 I read this while listening to Dan Carlin's hardcore history podcast。 。。。more
Jeroen
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Approaching the WWI in a myriad of different facets proves to be an interesting education for someone who had never been thaught about the Great War*。 The book does not concern itself only with the events leading up to the Great War， the many different battlefields of the countries that were caught in the - to quote John Galsworthy - tornado of death， it also covers social （the lives of women during the War and the morale of the soldiers） and political issues。The only thing in which aspect the b Approaching the WWI in a myriad of different facets proves to be an interesting education for someone who had never been thaught about the Great War*。 The book does not concern itself only with the events leading up to the Great War， the many different battlefields of the countries that were caught in the - to quote John Galsworthy - tornado of death， it also covers social （the lives of women during the War and the morale of the soldiers） and political issues。The only thing in which aspect the book could improve， I think， might be moving the maps illustrated only on the very last pages to be incorporated in the chapters on strategies of the Central and Entente Powers and the manoeuvre warfare。 At the point I was reading those I didn't even realize they actually were maps in the book and it would have been a great help getting a clear overview of the complex situation that was going on。*I never learnt about WWI in high school due to transfering to a different school which was apparently ahead in the subject of history， leaving me with knowledge gap of everything between the Dutch East India Company and the interbellum。 。。。more
AskHistorians
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A pleasingly thick volume that brings together the work of a number of well-regarded authors under Oxford's reliably accessible Illustrated History imprint。 A pleasingly thick volume that brings together the work of a number of well-regarded authors under Oxford's reliably accessible Illustrated History imprint。 。。。more
Heather C
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The Oxford Illustrated History of the First World War edited by Hew Strachan is an excellent overview work on World War I。 For anyone looking to pick up one book and get some solid information about a majority of the aspects of the war， they will find it here; from the different battlefronts， to war origins， the role of women， propaganda， to peace settlements and more。 This is a first-rate resource for anyone who might be new to the subject area or just to serve as a refresher for a seasoned his The Oxford Illustrated History of the First World War edited by Hew Strachan is an excellent overview work on World War I。 For anyone looking to pick up one book and get some solid information about a majority of the aspects of the war， they will find it here; from the different battlefronts， to war origins， the role of women， propaganda， to peace settlements and more。 This is a first-rate resource for anyone who might be new to the subject area or just to serve as a refresher for a seasoned historian。The dual strengths of this book are its brevity and its contributors。 Typically I find the brevity of books on one specific subject to be a hindrance to my understanding of said topic。 In the case of The Oxford Illustrated History of the First World War it strikes the perfect balance between spending enough time covering the important topics while not allowing the flow to become bogged down in number/fact regurgitation。 Here you will not find endless lists of troop strengths and numbers of field artillery pieces owned。 What you will find are topics of import and interest。 It explores more than just the battlefield experience of the primary theatres of war， but encompasses the periphery theatres as well。Interspersed throughout the book on virtually every page are photos， drawings， and maps that relate to the subject matter being discussed within those pages。 This layout makes the images much more relevant to the reader。 The only thing worse than no images within a book of this type are images that are placed in the center of the book without the benefit of the context of the writing。 Laid out this way the images do no break up the flow of the text， but enhance the reading experience。The contributors to this book appear as a sort of all-star lineup。 Many of these chapter contributors are major historians within their field; I’m not just taking the word of the publisher’s description， I did a little bit of my own research。 To take a cross-section of the contributors: Holger Afflerbach （writing on “The Strategy of the Central Powers， 1914-1917”） is a historian of both World Wars with a specialized focus on Central European history; David French （writing on “The Strategy of the Entente Powers， 1914-1917”） is a British military historian with a specialization on the late nineteenth century; and Susan R。 Grayzel （writing on “The Role of Women in the War”） is a director of women’s studies and has researched extensively within that field。 That is just three of the twenty-four contributors to this book。 To put it frankly， they appear to be quite knowledgeable within their fields and it is wonderful to see these specialists contributing to a compilation work。While I did not pinpoint any areas in this book that I would raise as a negative issue， I did encounter one element that made me stop and think about the topic deeper。 Both of these elements actually refer back to the previous discussion on the contributors。 When I opened to the chapter on the female experience in the war and saw that the section was penned by a woman， my initial reactions were mixed。 From my count， there are only two female contributors to this book， and one of those wrote the chapter on women。 Was this because the editor felt that a female would better portray the female experience and be more credible to the reader because of her gender？ Was this because women are more knowledgeable about the history of their own gender？ Did a man not want to write about women’s history because it might be viewed as “lesser” history in the grand scheme of the war？ All of these questions flew through my head before I had even read the first sentence。 These questions led me to research this historian and now I can see the likely reasons why she was chosen as a contributor; she has a lengthy experience with women’s history。 However， if I asked these questions， it is likely others will too – and they might go with a gender biased opinion。 Overall， I found the chapter to be well written and encompassing the majority of the wartime experiences of women across the theatres involved。This installment in the Oxford Illustrated series is exactly what I have come to expect from them （and I have read a few of the books in that collection） and they have yet to let me down with their publications。 Of all of the books I have read on the subject of the First World War this was the easiest to read and understand and relatively enjoyable to read。This review was previously posted at The Maiden's Court blog。 。。。more
Andrea Engle
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A succinct analysis of the First World War by a collection of historians 。。。 each essay focuses on a different aspect of the war 。。。 splendid overview 。。。
Elizabeth
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The new edition of this book has perfect timing as 2014 marks 100 years since the start of World War I。 The book is a series of essays from historians about different parts of the war - including social， political， technological， and military perspectives。 Parts of the book are chronological while others are strictly thematic。 Any single volume on WWI is going to have gaps， but this provides a wonderful introduction。 For those looking for more， this work can be supplemented by the full length wo The new edition of this book has perfect timing as 2014 marks 100 years since the start of World War I。 The book is a series of essays from historians about different parts of the war - including social， political， technological， and military perspectives。 Parts of the book are chronological while others are strictly thematic。 Any single volume on WWI is going to have gaps， but this provides a wonderful introduction。 For those looking for more， this work can be supplemented by the full length works by the various authors。 The "illustrated" part of the book includes photos and illustrations that help the reader more fully understand the time in which the events occurred， though more maps could be helpful。*I received an e-galley from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review* 。。。more
Kathleen
，
“One needed a new word for mud， said John Masefield， a new word for death， said Louis Mairet， a new word for war said Beverley Nichols。 ‘Only the names of places had dignity，’ concluded Ernest Hemingway， the American writer who served with the Italians in the war。”
Tera
，
Good information but was disappointed in the lack of pictures。 Not to be confused there are wonderful pictures but as an illustrated history book I expected there to be lots and lots of pictures to go with the text。 Arc from NetGalley
Ron
，
If you are looking for an readable， easily comprehensible digest of the First World War， you could do much worse than reading the new edition of The Oxford Illustrated History of the First World War。 In the book， you will find discussions on tactics， strategy， examinations of the various fronts alongside munitions， technology， peace negotiations， and memoryHew Strachan once again brought together a group of historians writing essays in 24 chapters。 The book opens with "The Origins of the War" an If you are looking for an readable， easily comprehensible digest of the First World War， you could do much worse than reading the new edition of The Oxford Illustrated History of the First World War。 In the book， you will find discussions on tactics， strategy， examinations of the various fronts alongside munitions， technology， peace negotiations， and memoryHew Strachan once again brought together a group of historians writing essays in 24 chapters。 The book opens with "The Origins of the War" and closes with "Memory and the Great War"。 In between are essays on aerial warfare， Central Power and Entente Power strategies， economics， women， politics， propaganda， and peace。 The one new essay is Robert Gerwarth's "No End to War" which examines when the conflict actually ended， especially in the East and Middle East。 Several of the essays have new authors and most have been updated in light of new scholarship。The Oxford Illustrated History of the First World War （New Edition） is worth reading for its own sake。 But do libraries need to replace their 1998 edition？ That is a decision each library would need to make based on its circumstances and budget。 But if a library or reader is looking for a quick way to review the First World War， The Oxford Illustrated History of the First World War will fulfill that need。 。。。more
WaiThain
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