The Dictionary of the First World War

The book's comprehensive coverage of total warfare - the battles, commanders, weapons, tactics and strategies - is interwoven with analyses of the sweeping political, social and economic changes imposed on a world order in terminal convulsion.
Many books on the subject have largely concentrated on the Western Front, with forays into the Atlantic, Mesopotamia, and Gallipoli. In contrast, The Dictionary of the First World War represents the perspective of a new generation of historians, looking at the War as a pan-European - and indeed global - conflict. Thus the book concentrates equally on the American, French, German, British, Italian, Russian, Turkish and Austro-Hungarian experiences - together with those of the many other participating peoples and nations.
In all, there are some 1200 carefully cross-referenced entries, together with a detailed day-by-day chronology and a generous provision of specially commissioned maps.

Pope and Wheal (The Dictionary of the Second World War, LJ 9/15/90) use facts, narrative, and analysis in over 1200 dictionary entries to cover all areas of World War I. The entries range in length from single-sentence definitions to several pages and present a comprehensive picture of the global aspect of the conflict. Their volume represents all nations. The entries are extensively cross referenced, moving the reader from a general entry, i.e., "trench warfare," to a more specific one, i.e., "breakthrough tactics," to a more specialized entry, i.e., "four-minute men." This cross referencing accounts for the big-picture view of this conflict. Cross references are noted in capital letters. All manner of weapons, tactics, and strategies are discussed here, as well as commanders from every level of organization. The chronology is useful for quick reference. Readers needing a more comprehensive work should turn to Randal Gray's two-volume Chronicle of the First World War (Facts on File, 1990, 1991). The current book is recommended for general and informed readers.
David Lee Poremba, Detroit P.L.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.