The World War One Source Book - Softcover

Haythornthwaite, Philip J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1854093517 ISBN 13: 9781854093516

Publisher: Arms & Armour, 1996

Synopsis

Provides the facts, figures and guidance about World War I required by students of all levels. The book features each nation involved, all battles and campaigns, the weaponry and the commanders, and is arranged in an easy-access, highly-illustrated format.

About this title

About the Author

Philip J Haythornthwaite is known to all followers of matters Napoleonic as a prolific and knowledgeable source of original research. A one time bookseller, he has an extensive private collection of Napoleonic material and is the a

Review

People of my generation, born during or immediately after World War II have tended not to know a lot about the Great War; its successor simply loomed too large in our experience and that of our parents. (Readers under thirty tend to think of Vietnam as ancient history.) Also, World War I had no clearly defined set of causes, only a hazy termination, and very few set-piece battles or campaigns. This excellent resource work should cure most of those problems for the reader willing to take the time to absorb it. There are five major sections plus a couple of shorter addenda, each of which can be dipped into for browsing, consulted for a reference question, or simply read straight through. "History of the War" is just what it says: a sixty-page historical and geographical narrative with lots of maps which is an excellent summary of the whole conflict, from Sarajevo to the Armistice. "Weapons and Tactics" will be the meat of the book for many readers, with detailed discussions of rifles in use by various nations, the role of sniping, the advent of the machine gun, and so on. "The Warring Nations" covers each of the sixty-odd countries and colonies that took part, at least on paper. Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Turkey, and the U.S. have the longest sections, naturally, but you'll also find here Lithuania, Brazil, India, Persia, Luxemburg, and Siam. (Siam?) Each of these articles summarizes the country's political situation on the eve of the war, its participation, active or otherwise, and what happened to it afterwards. Then there's "Biographies," which offers short sketches of forty-six key figures on all sides of the war. "Sources" is not only an excellent bibliography for further reading, it includes lists of literature that came out of the war, plus art and photography. A miscellaneous section discusses rations, prize money, and some other odds and ends, and a very good glossary of technical jargon and military slang rounds things out. Footnotes appear throughout, especially to the scattered quotations and excerpts from original sources, and every single article and sketch includes a list of "References" which by themselves are almost worth the not-high price of the book. If you feel a gap in your grasp of the political and military history of the first "war that changed everything," this is the place to start. Highly recommended. --By Michael K. Smith

The book has everything you need in order to understand all aspects of the war. The first part reviews the campaigns, naval operations, casualty lists, and chronology of the different fronts. The second part reviews the weapons and tactics from both sides. And, the third part, which is truly amazing, the author gives detailled reports on all the nations involved. The author obviously spent a great amount of time researching all the information required for the novel. The novel should be highly recommended for anyone interested in this dark period of our history. --By Shawn Smith

About this edition

• Publisher: Arms & Armour
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 1854093517
• ISBN 13: 9781854093516
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 412