History of the Great War, 1914-1918

by Carlton J.H. Hayes

Through the course of fifteen chapters, Carlton J. H. Hayes uncovers the complex causes, events and results of this infamous war that defined the twentieth century.

Rather than simply focussing on the famous battles of Verdun, the Somme, Ypres, Passchendaele, and the Marne, Hayes exposes the battles and conflicts that occurred on the Eastern Front, in the Balkans, in the Near East between the Ottoman and British Empires, in Africa and the Far East, and in the seas of the Atlantic and the Pacific.

Hayes orders the book chronologically so that the developments of the conflict across the world can be seen year by year.

This work reveals the complex politics of both the Allied Powers and the Central Powers as each individual nation had aims and desires which they wanted to support while continuing to fight their common enemies.

As the Western Front began to be tied down in trench warfare the various other fronts around the world were also in conflict.

With the Anglo-French failures at the Dardanelles and on Gallipoli, the escalating U-boat raids in the Atlantic, Bulgaria’s conquest of Serbia and the crumbling of the Russian Empire on the East Front, it looked as though the Central Powers were close to victory.

Yet, in the end, the Allied forces did overcome the Central Powers and Hayes provides a thorough analysis of why and how they were able to do this.

“The magnitude, complication, deep-seated causes, intricate relations and numerous and far-reaching results of the struggle gave opportunity and unclear treatment. Yet the author has produced a work notable for good proportion and balance, for coherence and lucidity, for a just measure of relative values and for a penetrating perception of the truth.” Earl E. Sperry, The Journal of International Relations

“it holds practically a unique place for fullness of information, fairness, balance, and accuracy.” William Stearns Davis, The American Historical Review

Carlton J. H. Hayes was an American professor at Columbia University with a specialism in European history and the rise of nationalism. He served as United States Ambassador to Spain in World War Two. History of the Great War, 1914-1918 was originally published under the title Brief History of the Great War in 1920. Hayes passed away in 1964.

Genres: History, World War I

537 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 19, 2013

About the author

American historian, educator, diplomat, devout Catholic and academic. '

He was a leading and pioneering specialist on the study of nationalism. He was elected as president of the American Historical Association over the opposition of liberals and the more explicit Anti-Catholic bias that defined the academic community of his era.

He served as United States Ambassador to Spain in World War II. Although he came under attack from the CIO, communists and other forces on the left that rejected any dealings with Francoist Spain, Hayes succeeded in his mission to keep Spain neutral during the war.

Reviews

[Jamie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Barely passable. He spends virtually no time talking about pivotal battles like Verdun and the Somme, even less on Ypres and Passchendaele, but will spend dozens of pages on actions on the Italian front. Basically only really notable because it was written in the 1920s, so it’s interesting to see it from that point of view.

Do yourself a favor and listen to Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History podcast covering the Great War in a series titled “Blueprint for Armageddon “. Way better.

[Greg Kerr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maps Would Have Helped

Well structured, and the author did not assume the reader remembered every detail, so he would repeat specific facts or incidents as they applied to different events.

This book, written not long after the events, gives a more than thorough explanation of the numerous causes for the war, as well as the breadth of the conflict and the nations/peoples who participated in the multitude of conflicts.

The final chapter paints an interesting picture of how the war impacted the early 20th century, and the hopes and concerns that so many nations had moving forward, especially in lieu of what we now know really happened. Highly recommended Joseph Loconte's "A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War".

[John S Rice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting perspective from the time of writing ca. 1920

Having been written about 1920, the glimpse of the future is fascinating. Man seems bent on the Cain kills Able in his actions. Mankind seems to change only the numbers and methods of killing each other in spite of his "good intentions" . My father always told me, "The road He'll is paved with good intentions.". History, in general, surely seems to sadly support that.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

While this book did have very good information, and I did learn some things, it was extremely hard to follow at times. Yes, the details can be dry, but the writer here was very verbose, there were a lot of grammatical errors, and I feel like details were sometimes given in a roundabout way.

I did learn, but there are better sources out there.

[Glenn Van Buren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Learned much about this terrible war. Not much on the trench warfare, day to day battles, however.

See above. Surprised by the combatants and how they ended up on the sides that they took. Interesting book to learn about a subject that I did not study much in school.

[Wesley Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very insightful

Very informative book detailing the history of World War I. General overviews of battles, stances, nations and other information. I enjoyed the read.

[Gary Leibl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. I would have given it a higher score if it had maps of the battlefields.

[Joanne Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding

Great detailed information from multiple points of view. Wonderful to see how many new ideas were implemented and still I. Vogue 100 years later.

[Robert Barkman]

Finished History of the Great War weeks ago. It was fine. As good as any other WW1 book besides the Guns of August.

[Zach Weaver · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very informative, but poorly written



This book so very informative, yet lacks the language necessary to keep the reader engaged for long periods of time.