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World War I in 100 Objects

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A dynamic social history commemorating the 100th anniversary of the start of World War I

General readers and history buffs alike have made bestsellers of books like A History of the World in 100 Objects. In that tradition, this handsome commemorative volume gives a unique perspective on one of the most pivotal and volatile events of modern history.
  In World War I in 100 Objects, military historian Peter Doyle shares a fascinating collection of items, from patriotic badges worn by British citizens to field equipment developed by the United States. Beautifully photographed, each item is accompanied by the unique story it tells about the war, its strategy, its innovations, and the people who fought it.

352 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2014

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Peter Doyle

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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
Profile Image for Dan.
1,249 reviews52 followers
April 23, 2019
World War I in 100 Objects By Peter Doyle

This is a picture book as the title implies. My experience upon reading was similar to touring a history museum with objects from the Great War on display. In 2018 I visited just such an exhibit at the Libary of Congress. We tend to think of WW1 in “black and white” but it is the colors of many of the objects that immediately jump out at you.

There are chapters on the hats and helmets worn in the war. For example, the Pickelhaube is the name for that instantly recognizable German ceremonial helmet with the spike on top. The Austrian feldkappe looks a little like a baseball cap made out of felt that featured several buttons in the front. The Russian furazhka was the khaki colored cap with the small brim. The Scots started off the war with a Tyneside Scottish cap. The Kiwis wore a Lemon squeezer hat. All of these hats and even the Pickelhaube were discarded early in the war because they were completely ineffective against bullets and especially munitions.

The French adopted the Adrian helmet which has that ancient Roman look to it. The English Wolseley helmet was the most iconic military headgear worn during the Great War and features a large dome shape. It was used in the Middle East and doubled as a sun shade. The Stalhelm was the iconic German helmet providing additional ear coverage and not that different from what the Germans used in WW2.

A few pages later there are several objects on propaganda items. There is the famous Lord Kitchener poster with the General himself pointing out of the poster with the words “Your country needs you”. There were colorful food posters used back home in Britain and the U.S. These posters helped reinforce the notion that rationing on the homefront must be adhered to and those who didn’t comply were unpatriotic.

Weapons. The French used the Lebel rifle, slow to reload but with a larger capacity. Millions were made and the gun was reliable if not a bit dated, the model was thirty years old. The Americans used the Colt 1911 as their handgun. This is what Sergeant Alvin York used when he single handedly destroyed a nest of German machine gunners and captured over one hundred German soldiers. The Russians used the Mosin-Nagrant rifle which only held five rounds. The Russian Army did not have a large military budget and some soldiers were not issued rifles but were expected to find what they needed from the dead soldiers around them. For the British, the Lee-Enfield Rifle held ten rounds of ammunition and had the largest capacity of the standard issue rifles used in the war.

The French 75 was a fast acting artillery gun that saw heavy action in the war. The Vickers machine gun used by the British was also iconic, it was essentially the first modern machine gun and was vital to British successes but was quickly replicated. The German “minenwerfer” was a mortar used with great effectiveness, capable of shooting artillery nearly vertical achieving an angle that could land in trenches. Austrian howitzers were used in the mountainous terrain of Serbia and Romania and Italy. The Mills Bomb was a British model hand grenade that was one of the first to use the lever concept so that the grenade could be held for a time before throwing. The Kukri was a traditional knife, the weapon of the Indian Gurkha soldier. It is unclear if it was that effective in a war where most died by artillery.

Barbed wire was a creation that arose in the ranch lands of the American West. It was first adopted by the Russians in the Russo-Japanese war and then became a fixture in WW1 trench warfare. Finally there were several iconic pictures of gas masks used by the different countries, many of those designs are replicated today in horror movies or comic books. They really were quite bizarre looking.

3 stars. Worth a read and better than I expected. I ‘read’ as part of my WW1 project.
Profile Image for Soobie is expired.
7,135 reviews134 followers
August 5, 2015
It took me forever to read this book but it wasnt' its fault. Books like this one are perfect for some quality bathroom reading.

I really like the concept of the book: reducing WW1 to 100 objects that could describe what happened in the world between 1914 and 1918. I remember reading in the preface that the author did chose objects that people could go and see by themselves in museums or else. But in the end, most of the items belongs to private collections.

One big fault of this book: most of the German words were spelled wrong or missing a capital letter. It didn't take a rocket scientist to Google those words and spell them correctly.

One minor fault: Italy was mentioned only in passing. If I remember correctly, there were only some hooks or something related to the fighting on the Alps. Sorry, that was my Italian-ness speaking.

At the same time, I learned a lot of things about other armies. I mean, when I studied WW1 back in school, the ANZAC was barely mentioned but in reality it played a huge role in the war. You know, it was like finding out that tons of Māori sailed to Italy and fought and died in Cassino, Faenza, Rimini... And some of them fathered little kids, as told in Il soldato Harold: Un neozelandese ad Erto, where the author explained how he found out that his father was a New Zealander soldier.
Profile Image for Denise.
242 reviews9 followers
October 6, 2014
Full disclosure: I was chosen a First Reads winner, and received a hardback copy of World War I in 100 Objects in the mail.

What a well-researched, well-written and fascinating book, full of excellent photos.

My first thought, when I saw the title was, "How in the world did he narrow this down to 100 objects?" When I actually read the book, I saw that it's really more like 100 topics, representative of the nations, people, locations, warfare, etc. from the first World War. In nearly every case, Doyle has included more than one photo of that topic's "object," allowing him to tell its story, expand upon its use, and place it in context. Since so many of the objects are listed as being in private collections, I can't imagine how much effort went into obtaining all of those high-quality photos.

Because the sections of the book follow the war years chronologically, Doyle is also able to tell the story of the war as it unfolded. I was surprised to learn several things that were completely new to me -- for example, the extent of New Zealand's involvement in support of the war effort.

I am very grateful for the opportunity to have read this book, and would highly recommend it to both history and photography buffs.
Profile Image for Sally.
876 reviews12 followers
November 22, 2024
In some ways a fascinating book on the material culture of the war. As might be expected many of the objects are weapons--guns, tanks, knives, etc. The idea of "object" seems rather elastic as it's as specific as the car in which Archduke Franz Ferdinand was riding in when he and his wife were assassinated (I've seen this in a museum in Vienna) to random trenches and barbed wire. Each of the more generic objects stands for something greater, although it would be hard to see many of these objects, since they are in private collections. There is usually several pages contextualizing the object, including history, sociology, and casualty rates. Sometimes the information is a little repetitive, although I guess most people don't read it straight through. Sometimes there is more information than is really needed.
Profile Image for Britt.
1,070 reviews2 followers
March 31, 2018
I read the ebook on my phone and would go through a couple images at a time. It is a great way to learn about WW1 in a less daunting, simple format of looking at 100 real objects. You see the brutally of war by the weapons used (like the ominous trench bat), you see the protection and few comforts they had (who knew they had spine shields from the false idea that you could get heatstroke from sun beating down on your spine), the death (funerary cards and dog tags), and the awards given to both the dead and the ones who survived valiant endeavors. Really an eye-opening read.
Profile Image for Woody Chandler.
355 reviews5 followers
October 17, 2019
Harrowing! It is one thing to read of & watch fims of the era, but the beautiful color pictures of the artifacts hammer home that these were human beings involved in this madness. I have my paternal grandfather's Cavalry (!) greatcoat & I highly covet my maternal grandfather's doughboy helmet upon my maternal uncle's passing.

Quick quiz for all yinz readers:
Q: What do my maternal grandfather, Ernest Hemingway, John Dos Passos & e.e. cummings have in common?










A: All were WWI ambulance drivers who did NOT die during the influenza outbreak!
Profile Image for Stephanie Molnar.
363 reviews7 followers
July 28, 2025
Too many weapons and medals. It also took far too long to get to what the item actually was--it was mired in paragraphs of background text. Descriptions should have been more succinct and, frankly, interesting.
179 reviews
January 29, 2024
Mooie foto's van bijzondere voorwerpen uit WO1. Niet alleen vanuit Brits perspectief (wel de meesten), maar ook vanuit dat van andere landen. De teksten zijn verhelderend. Prettig kijk- en leesboek.
339 reviews1 follower
December 3, 2025
Nice to see the full colour photographs of each object. It's an interesting way to read about history but can only dip in and out of the subject.
Profile Image for Susan.
362 reviews2 followers
August 10, 2016
I read this book to learn more about WWI; a reader more familiar with the war or with weaponry would probably rate the book much higher.

Each object is featured in a large (mostly full page) photo at the start of two or three pages explaining the item's significance. In general, the items offer a chronological view of the war. The exceptions are two sections at the end, "War at Sea, in the Air" (focusing, of course, on naval and air forces) and "At Home" (including prosthetic limbs and war memorials).

Archduke Franz Ferdinand's vehicle in Sarajevo, a 1911 Graff and Stift Double Phaeton, - now in a Vienna museum - is the first item. That's fitting, since his assassination triggered the war. The article that follows the photo describes the political situation in Austria-Hungary and its neighbors, as well as the details of the archduke's death.

Each object provides a link to a greater aspect of the war. The insignia from an ANZAC (Australia - New Zealand Army Corps) uniform leads to information about enlistment enthusiasm in those countries as well as ANZAC bravery at Gallipoli.

The objects represent mainly the UK, France, Austria-Hungary, and Germany, with a few Italian, Russian, and American items. American contributions to WWI are not at all well developed.

I learned a lot!!

I knew that on the western front, WWI was fought primarily from trenches. I did not realize that, in addition to long range artillery and grenades, troops frequently battled face-to-face with knives and clubs.

I knew that armies often use non-combatants in rear areas to serve the combatants, but I had no idea that the French and British hired over 94,000 Chinese laborers to work in ports, maintain vehicles, and build roads or airstrips. The British also employed men from South Africa, the West Indies, Egypt, India, and Fiji.

I'll admit that I skimmed some articles about weapons - because I don't know enough about gauges of metal or mechanisms to appreciate the information.

This book needed
1. a map of Europe. I know where the countries are; I'd like to understand where the battle occurred.
2. better editing. The frequent dangling modifiers made me crazy!
Profile Image for Reet Champion.
274 reviews16 followers
October 19, 2014
World War I. An event mostly remembered for its grisly statistics, tranches and scarred land left behind. In this latest release World War I in 100 Objects allows readers to view this tragic period via items used in the Great War.

With the recent influx of World War I literature I confess I had my doubts about World War I in 100 Objects. Normally I like books that show readers objects that related to a certain event and then give the story of the item and other information. But still...Well, I'm happy to say this book was well worth a read. The high quality and very large photos were very much welcomed along with the short chapters that contained information about the object. So I got both my human interest fix along with other details I was not aware of. Can I vouch for the book's accuracy? No. I don't know enough about World War I to be able to do that but I still consider this book worth a read.

DISCLAIMER: In accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising” we would like to note that we received a hard copy of “World War I in 100 Objects” provided by the publishers, Plume, through Goodreads First Reads in exchange for our honest review.

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Profile Image for Theresa.
199 reviews45 followers
September 22, 2014
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway.

As an American, I feel like learning about WW1 in school was pretty much, "we showed up at the end and won the war for the right side, yawn." Everything else I know about WW1 (admittedly, not much, I have far more interest than knowledge at this point) I've gotten from literature and, less so, from non-fiction.

I haven't read much non-fiction about WW1 for the same reason I don't read very much non-fiction about wars in general: I am not very interested weaponry, battle tactics or military personnel. I prefer... I guess, the more people-related aspects. (I'm sure there's a better way to phrase that, but my brain says "TOO BAD")

So, knowing that weapons and such were going to be a fair part of this book- I thought it was gorgeous! It has tons of beautiful color photos, each with a brief (2-3 page) description of the object either as an individual, actual thing (example: Franz Ferdinand's car) or as a more general trend or series of objects (war medals, the importance of the telegram, etc.)

The descriptions are concise and clear; the objects are quite varied, and come from all fronts of the war. I certainly learned some new stuff, which is exactly what I was hoping for.
Profile Image for Book Club of One.
531 reviews24 followers
March 31, 2016
An engaging introduction to the Great War (or World War I). Written under the premise that objects can serve as all or some of the following: trash, heirloom, artifact, memory item or commercial souvenir. (pg 9). It should be no surprise that using an arbitrary number leaves some things out, and is limited in depth.
These objects are organized to fit a mostly chronological narrative that hits many of the expected points. For example, the beginning of the war seen through Archduke Franz Ferdinand's car, the Kitchner recruitment poster or the location where the armistice was signed. The mostly chronological refers to two sections: "War at Sea, in the Air" and "At Home" which are discussed after the author features an object related to the armistice.
While Peter Doyle has written on the First World War before (Most recently Kitchener's Mob: The New Army to the Somme), I was disappointed that this particular volume did not offer any details on further readings or consulted sources. Even the images lack attributions other than a brief acknowledgements page.
Profile Image for Bernie4444.
2,465 reviews11 followers
October 8, 2023
An excellent companion to your favorite WWI book or movie.

My favorite storybook is "All Quiet on the Western Front" by Erich Maria Remarque; my favorite real account of WW1 is "The Guns of August" by Barbara Tuchman.

Most books and movies do not let you touch the time as well as this book "World War I in 100 Objects" by Peter Doyle not to be confused with books of almost the same name.

The pictures are well taken. Many of the objects look like they went through a little wear and were found for this presentation. But pictures alone do not a book make. The verbal descriptions add more dimensions to want we are viewing.

With only one hundred objects to choose from I am sure some of your favorites might not be there such as Notgeld. But you may find some new favorites.
Profile Image for Sarah.
1,071 reviews13 followers
November 14, 2014
A unique and specific perspective on one of the world's most devastating wars. This is clearly a British publication, with the vast majority of objects being British or German, with a smattering of French items, and a small handful from other countries (i.e., Canada, US and British Kenya). This not an in-depth look at war, nor it's effects and impacts; it is more a story told through the objects, illustrating the brutality, fatalism and blind obedience that comes with a vicious war.
19 reviews
June 24, 2014
Americans do not pay as much attention to World War I as Europeans do, understandably since we were in it a much shorter time. With the 100th anniversary of the start of the war approaching we need to make an attempt to understand how this war led to later events that have impacted the US. The choice of items included in this volume are interesting for their variety and unexpectedness .
Profile Image for Jennifer.
295 reviews2 followers
December 16, 2014
The book was well researched and interesting to read. Unfortunately, almost 30% of the German terms and expressions are misspelled, I am not sure what went wrong there. I also disliked that all brutal or barbaric items, such as knives or guns, were taken from the Germans, although the Allies had similar weapons as well. Still, it is interesting and engaging.
Profile Image for Andrea Engle.
2,041 reviews57 followers
October 26, 2014
A collection of 1st World War artifacts which are uncomfortably evocative of the human aspect of the conflict ... from Franz Ferdinand's motor-car to rusted tangles of barbed wire ... these photos with explanatory text have a startling immediacy ...
2,361 reviews1 follower
December 21, 2014
I enjoyed reading Peter Doyle's World War I in 100 Objects. It was similar to the Imperial War Museum book but there were some different objects. It can make history more interesting by identifying items from a certain time period.
Profile Image for Kim Clarke.
256 reviews1 follower
August 7, 2017
I got to 97 before I had to go out, read 98 and 99 whilst Nana and Grandad went to the carvery for their meals and 100 outside before we waved them on their way.
Profile Image for Alec Gray.
155 reviews3 followers
January 6, 2015
One of the new trend of "object" books, this one gives a good primer on many aspects of the Great War.
Profile Image for Tracee.
647 reviews3 followers
October 11, 2014
Most of the objects were pretty mundane. To me. Sorry.
35 reviews1 follower
March 29, 2015
what a cool book. it does a great job of explaining the war in the 100 objects.
Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews

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