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The Great War
Book by Terraine, John
400 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1964
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December 18, 2017
No matter how good the occasional one is, I haven’t before smuggled on a TV documentary series as a ‘good read’ but I make an exception in this case, having just finished watching the 26 part series again. I first remember seeing bits of it as a child back in 1964 when it was run on BBC TV to mark the 50th Anniversary of the outbreak of WW1. We had no TV in the house at the time (Ahhh those happy days!) and my dad used to take my brother and myself to a friends house to watch it.
It has always stuck vividly with me since, and it was with considerable joy that I found it had been released on DVD 10 years ago. It’s been much watched since then. I review it on here for 2 reasons:
• The writing of the series commentary is of a quality equal to some of the best books on the events of the war.
• There are a number of GRs who have a considerable interest in WW1, and it’s far too good a source on the subject to miss.
The 26 episodes provide a clear narrative outline of events on the various fronts, including the home fronts in the various nations involved. It is a powerful narrative history with very clear, sound interpretations of the events. With John Terraine as chief writer of the series, working with a strong team, this is not surprising.
The most powerful element of the series was the wealth of contemporary newsreel footage used. A very small amount of footage from the original movie version of “All Quiet on the Western Front” had to be used to cover a couple of sequences for which they did not have appropriate original material. However, these get pretty well lost among the welter of original material (Added to which, I have always felt that some of the action scenes in that film were very effectively made anyway). This film material provides masses of fantastic source material on all aspects of the war, and of the different fronts and regions in which it took place.
The film footage takes up the great majority of each episode, although there is a sparing but highly effective use of input to camera by veterans from a number of the nations involved. Over the silent film footage are discreet sound-effects, but the narrative commentary is excellent in content, and also in presentation. Michael Redgrave was overall narrator and had a superb voice for the job, backed up by a number of respected actors e.g. Ralph Richardson provided a number of extended quotations from Douglas Haig, Emlyn Williams provided the voice of Lloyd George. of a variety of people who were there, and the statistics – O the statistics that formed the basis of the commentary, there was also some good use of the war poets words in some episodes. Some of the visual material is overwhelming and hits you like a sledge hammer. The conditions – e.g. the mud of Passchendale, the scenes of men in action, (some of which were obviously near contemporary reconstructions), but some clearly straight newsreel footage.
‘Thankfully’ the series was made at a time when it was still considered perfectly ok to be honest about the effects of war, so we do see corpses mangled, decomposing, or in huge numbers; we do see the sheer power and effects of the developing weaponry which is made terrifyingly real & clear, at times just by the use of a few seconds of film footage; we do see the awful effects on civilians - both those caught up in the actual areas where the action took place and those living on the various home fronts.
It is not however a diatribe against war, but it does makes all too clear its effects and consequences. Woven into the visual images and commentary, the statistics come alive in a more than usually devastating way. That by the end of the war between France, Britain, Germany and Austria they had lost over 5 million dead. What?! That in the last few weeks as attempted peace negotiations went on there were a further half a million casualties all round, killed or wounded. What?! That it is October 1918 before we find Haig saying that no more men must die NEEDLESSLY, while back in March of the same year he was still demanding more men, and yet more men, and as many of them as possible, be sent to the front. The series provides a calm and balanced approach to the topic, but facts like that just can’t be received without feeling passionate emotion about the insanity of it all.
The series achieved the same brilliant quality as Ken Burns “American Civil War”, there are considerable resemblances in the approach taken by both. I can’t think of higher praise than that for a history documentary.
It has always stuck vividly with me since, and it was with considerable joy that I found it had been released on DVD 10 years ago. It’s been much watched since then. I review it on here for 2 reasons:
• The writing of the series commentary is of a quality equal to some of the best books on the events of the war.
• There are a number of GRs who have a considerable interest in WW1, and it’s far too good a source on the subject to miss.
The 26 episodes provide a clear narrative outline of events on the various fronts, including the home fronts in the various nations involved. It is a powerful narrative history with very clear, sound interpretations of the events. With John Terraine as chief writer of the series, working with a strong team, this is not surprising.
The most powerful element of the series was the wealth of contemporary newsreel footage used. A very small amount of footage from the original movie version of “All Quiet on the Western Front” had to be used to cover a couple of sequences for which they did not have appropriate original material. However, these get pretty well lost among the welter of original material (Added to which, I have always felt that some of the action scenes in that film were very effectively made anyway). This film material provides masses of fantastic source material on all aspects of the war, and of the different fronts and regions in which it took place.
The film footage takes up the great majority of each episode, although there is a sparing but highly effective use of input to camera by veterans from a number of the nations involved. Over the silent film footage are discreet sound-effects, but the narrative commentary is excellent in content, and also in presentation. Michael Redgrave was overall narrator and had a superb voice for the job, backed up by a number of respected actors e.g. Ralph Richardson provided a number of extended quotations from Douglas Haig, Emlyn Williams provided the voice of Lloyd George. of a variety of people who were there, and the statistics – O the statistics that formed the basis of the commentary, there was also some good use of the war poets words in some episodes. Some of the visual material is overwhelming and hits you like a sledge hammer. The conditions – e.g. the mud of Passchendale, the scenes of men in action, (some of which were obviously near contemporary reconstructions), but some clearly straight newsreel footage.
‘Thankfully’ the series was made at a time when it was still considered perfectly ok to be honest about the effects of war, so we do see corpses mangled, decomposing, or in huge numbers; we do see the sheer power and effects of the developing weaponry which is made terrifyingly real & clear, at times just by the use of a few seconds of film footage; we do see the awful effects on civilians - both those caught up in the actual areas where the action took place and those living on the various home fronts.
It is not however a diatribe against war, but it does makes all too clear its effects and consequences. Woven into the visual images and commentary, the statistics come alive in a more than usually devastating way. That by the end of the war between France, Britain, Germany and Austria they had lost over 5 million dead. What?! That in the last few weeks as attempted peace negotiations went on there were a further half a million casualties all round, killed or wounded. What?! That it is October 1918 before we find Haig saying that no more men must die NEEDLESSLY, while back in March of the same year he was still demanding more men, and yet more men, and as many of them as possible, be sent to the front. The series provides a calm and balanced approach to the topic, but facts like that just can’t be received without feeling passionate emotion about the insanity of it all.
The series achieved the same brilliant quality as Ken Burns “American Civil War”, there are considerable resemblances in the approach taken by both. I can’t think of higher praise than that for a history documentary.
August 28, 2018
Ово је фина историја првог свјетског рата, али можда малчице уска у фокусу. Поводи/узроци рата се спомињу у свега неколико реченица, посљедице у нула, а иначе скоро комплетна књига отпада на праћење Енглеза и Француза, док се остали спомињу онолико колико се преклапају са Енглезима и Французима. Претпостављам да они и јесу изнијели највећи терет ратовања, али дођавола, ја сам хтио да читам о српском херојству, о Гаврилу Принципу, о повлачењу преко Албаније и сл., а те и многе друге ствари су сорелз миссинг.
Међутим, с друге стране, битке у којима су учествовали Енглези и Французи су описане са фанатичном детаљношћу, са углавном тачним бројем јединица, људи, наоружања и сл. чудеса и прецизним описима кретања и помјерања фронта. АЛИ... барем у овом Киндл издању недостаје мапа, без које је праћење прилично отежано сваком ко не познаје као свој џеп сваки јендек у Француској. Чини ми се да је овај материјал ипак много згоднији за изглагање у виду неког документарног филма, али овај аутор и јесте написао сценарио за Би-Би-Сијев серијал о првом свјетском рату, тако да и то свакако вриједи погледати у конјункцији са овом књигом.
Међутим, с друге стране, битке у којима су учествовали Енглези и Французи су описане са фанатичном детаљношћу, са углавном тачним бројем јединица, људи, наоружања и сл. чудеса и прецизним описима кретања и помјерања фронта. АЛИ... барем у овом Киндл издању недостаје мапа, без које је праћење прилично отежано сваком ко не познаје као свој џеп сваки јендек у Француској. Чини ми се да је овај материјал ипак много згоднији за изглагање у виду неког документарног филма, али овај аутор и јесте написао сценарио за Би-Би-Сијев серијал о првом свјетском рату, тако да и то свакако вриједи погледати у конјункцији са овом књигом.
June 11, 2025
This is the best short one-volume history of the First World War that I've read, as Terraine writes with an engaging and brisk style, and is nuanced and insightful in his conclusions. There were a number of points where I found his insight particularly refreshing (even more remarkable in a book first published more than 50 years ago), and a much-needed corrective to many of the legends, half-truths and outright lies that have been written about this most controversial period in Europe's military history. High points include his writing on the opening months of the war in 1914; the battle of the Somme in 1916; and the climactic hundred days offensive in 1918 that finally brought the war to a close.
It is often forgotten that the war was relatively mobile in the summer and early autumn of 1914, until the battle of the Marne. By the end of September, "Germany's plans were in ruins. No amount of skilled resistance along the Aisne, no degree of vigor or ferocity at Nancy or Verdun, could alter this. The Allied victory may have ended in a grim slugging match under the chilly autumn rain; it may have been cheated of spectacular climacterics such as the rout of the Grand Army after Waterloo, or the laying down of arms at Appomattox. But it was nonetheless real. It spelled the collapse of the only plan by which Germany had hoped to win the swift victory that she needed." What followed was the so-called "race to the sea", really a series of attempted flanking manoeuvres. After this, the war evolved into the more settled, entrenched virtual stalemate that was to prevail for the next four years. What followed was a series of attempts to break the deadlock, with massive loss of life. "A terrible equation was about to be expounded: the balance between the modern world's ability to inflict damage and the capacity of its swollen populations to endure that damage. Before this ominous balance could be disturbed, some new advance would be needed on the technological front, which now became, and remained, as decisive as any battlefront. Neither side was backward in seeking both strategic or tactical remedies and the technical solutions of their dilemma. But these would require time; and during that time it was impossible to forecast how many men would die." Moving forward into 1915, Terraine also highlights a theme that was to be repeated over the years that followed: the dangers of partial and seemingly frustrated success. "This was the deceit of 1915 - the sense of being always on the brink of a decisive action. It affected the Germans and Allies alike, and the ensuing disappointment constitutes the true origin of the warfare of attrition."
The Battle of the Somme is imprinted on the British psyche like no other, and its legacy continues to be felt today. Terraine's analysis of the battle and its significance both for the war and subsequently is the best that I've read. In writing about the opening of the battle on the 1st of July 1916, Terraine comments that, "At the root of the whole British situation, and of the disaster which had befallen them, lay the rawness of the troops; it was the attempt to impose an inflexible procedure as a compensation for lack of training which produced the July 1st losses." His analysis of the continuing impact of that terrible day, and the significance of the battle as a whole, is best described in his own words: "When at last the British public learned what the loss of life had been in that short span of time, the paroxysm was tremendous. Its effects were felt all through the Second World War, influencing British strategy; they are still felt in Britain today. One reason for this was the special nature of the army that marched into the holocaust. For this was, above all, "Kitchener's Army" - the eager, devoted, physical and spiritual elite of the British nation who had volunteered at Lord Kitchener's call. The massacre of this breed of men was the price the British paid for the voluntary principle, the principle of unequal sacrifice. Because of July 1st, because of the shock, and because of the quality of the men who fell, the full truth about the Battle of the Somme has been largely obscured. It cannot be grasped without paying full and close attention to the 140 days which followed that dreadful opening; during them the British Army inflicted their first major defeat upon the Germans, and carried forward by a huge stride the process of grinding down which ultimately brought Germany's collapse....What the Germans had intended to do to France at Verdun, the British did to them on the Somme."
This pattern of grinding down continued through 1917 and bore fruit when the German Army was finally defeated in 1918. The legacy of the great attritional battles of 1916 and 1917, combined with the British Army's undoubted offensive capabilities at that time (in men, tactics and materiel), and Haig's determination to bring about Germany's defeat in 1918, explains the relatively rapid collapse of Germany on the Western Front after the high water mark of their 1918 spring offensive. American intervention, the tank, and the unity of command under Foch were all factors in Germany's defeat, but the victory on the Western Front essentially belongs to the British Army.
It is often still forgotten today that the First World War was a victory for Britain, France and their allies. The unprecedented scale and undeniable horror of the war impacted the national consciousness of Britain in a way that is still felt today. But horrific as it was, I can't help but conclude with John Terraine that the First World War was a necessary evil. The need to confront and defeat an aggressive, imperialistic Germany was as great as it was 20 years later. Terraine's writing on the subject is balanced, nuanced and thoughtful, neither obscuring the horror of the war nor the fact that it was more than a mere horror.
In drawing his book to a close, he quotes Churchill to sum up the character of the war: "The fighting strength of armies was limited only by the manhood of their countries. Europe and large parts of Asia and Africa became one vast battlefield on which after years of struggle not armies but nations broke and ran. When all was over, Torture and Cannibalism were the only two expedients that the civilised, scientific, Christian States had been able to deny themselves: and these were of doubtful utility." Terraine's closing comment on this is appropriately bleak: "These omissions were duly rectified in the next generation, when the embittered nations were plunged into the Second German War, after a breathing space of only twenty-one years."
It is often forgotten that the war was relatively mobile in the summer and early autumn of 1914, until the battle of the Marne. By the end of September, "Germany's plans were in ruins. No amount of skilled resistance along the Aisne, no degree of vigor or ferocity at Nancy or Verdun, could alter this. The Allied victory may have ended in a grim slugging match under the chilly autumn rain; it may have been cheated of spectacular climacterics such as the rout of the Grand Army after Waterloo, or the laying down of arms at Appomattox. But it was nonetheless real. It spelled the collapse of the only plan by which Germany had hoped to win the swift victory that she needed." What followed was the so-called "race to the sea", really a series of attempted flanking manoeuvres. After this, the war evolved into the more settled, entrenched virtual stalemate that was to prevail for the next four years. What followed was a series of attempts to break the deadlock, with massive loss of life. "A terrible equation was about to be expounded: the balance between the modern world's ability to inflict damage and the capacity of its swollen populations to endure that damage. Before this ominous balance could be disturbed, some new advance would be needed on the technological front, which now became, and remained, as decisive as any battlefront. Neither side was backward in seeking both strategic or tactical remedies and the technical solutions of their dilemma. But these would require time; and during that time it was impossible to forecast how many men would die." Moving forward into 1915, Terraine also highlights a theme that was to be repeated over the years that followed: the dangers of partial and seemingly frustrated success. "This was the deceit of 1915 - the sense of being always on the brink of a decisive action. It affected the Germans and Allies alike, and the ensuing disappointment constitutes the true origin of the warfare of attrition."
The Battle of the Somme is imprinted on the British psyche like no other, and its legacy continues to be felt today. Terraine's analysis of the battle and its significance both for the war and subsequently is the best that I've read. In writing about the opening of the battle on the 1st of July 1916, Terraine comments that, "At the root of the whole British situation, and of the disaster which had befallen them, lay the rawness of the troops; it was the attempt to impose an inflexible procedure as a compensation for lack of training which produced the July 1st losses." His analysis of the continuing impact of that terrible day, and the significance of the battle as a whole, is best described in his own words: "When at last the British public learned what the loss of life had been in that short span of time, the paroxysm was tremendous. Its effects were felt all through the Second World War, influencing British strategy; they are still felt in Britain today. One reason for this was the special nature of the army that marched into the holocaust. For this was, above all, "Kitchener's Army" - the eager, devoted, physical and spiritual elite of the British nation who had volunteered at Lord Kitchener's call. The massacre of this breed of men was the price the British paid for the voluntary principle, the principle of unequal sacrifice. Because of July 1st, because of the shock, and because of the quality of the men who fell, the full truth about the Battle of the Somme has been largely obscured. It cannot be grasped without paying full and close attention to the 140 days which followed that dreadful opening; during them the British Army inflicted their first major defeat upon the Germans, and carried forward by a huge stride the process of grinding down which ultimately brought Germany's collapse....What the Germans had intended to do to France at Verdun, the British did to them on the Somme."
This pattern of grinding down continued through 1917 and bore fruit when the German Army was finally defeated in 1918. The legacy of the great attritional battles of 1916 and 1917, combined with the British Army's undoubted offensive capabilities at that time (in men, tactics and materiel), and Haig's determination to bring about Germany's defeat in 1918, explains the relatively rapid collapse of Germany on the Western Front after the high water mark of their 1918 spring offensive. American intervention, the tank, and the unity of command under Foch were all factors in Germany's defeat, but the victory on the Western Front essentially belongs to the British Army.
It is often still forgotten today that the First World War was a victory for Britain, France and their allies. The unprecedented scale and undeniable horror of the war impacted the national consciousness of Britain in a way that is still felt today. But horrific as it was, I can't help but conclude with John Terraine that the First World War was a necessary evil. The need to confront and defeat an aggressive, imperialistic Germany was as great as it was 20 years later. Terraine's writing on the subject is balanced, nuanced and thoughtful, neither obscuring the horror of the war nor the fact that it was more than a mere horror.
In drawing his book to a close, he quotes Churchill to sum up the character of the war: "The fighting strength of armies was limited only by the manhood of their countries. Europe and large parts of Asia and Africa became one vast battlefield on which after years of struggle not armies but nations broke and ran. When all was over, Torture and Cannibalism were the only two expedients that the civilised, scientific, Christian States had been able to deny themselves: and these were of doubtful utility." Terraine's closing comment on this is appropriately bleak: "These omissions were duly rectified in the next generation, when the embittered nations were plunged into the Second German War, after a breathing space of only twenty-one years."
December 18, 2018
An authority on WW1
Mr Terraine, one of the leading historians and much quoted by others, takes us on a journey of examination through the major events of WW1.
A very interesting read and one that I know will be revisited.
Mr Terraine, one of the leading historians and much quoted by others, takes us on a journey of examination through the major events of WW1.
A very interesting read and one that I know will be revisited.
February 28, 2024
John Terraine at his best. Coherent, brief, incisive and well balanced opinion.
September 1, 2008
This is a solid read for anyone who is unfamiliar with World War I. He does not go into great detail about particular battles, but breaks down the strategy and the people involved.
January 20, 2015
Great pics, narrative very cursory
March 21, 2017
Nearly 50 years after it was written this remains the best short introduction to the First World War.
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