The First World War

Cassell History of Warfare

by Robin Prior, Trevor Wilson

Industrial and ironclad power reached its culmination in the war that engulfed Europe. As events would prove, however, the products of the industrial system of the 20th century, including the capacity of the system to transfer vast reserves of manpower from civilian to military employment at short notice, much more greatly favoured strategies of defence than offence. The outcome was a war of attrition and immobile fronts, eventually to be unlocked only when a second wave of industrial innovation yielded means—the tank, the aeroplane—to break the stalemate. This is a complete history of World War I. It is illustrated throughout and incorporates computer-generated cartography to bring the battlefields to life.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, War, World War I, Military History, The World

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Robin Prior was born in rural South Australia and has been a farmer, shopkeeper, librarian and an academic. He was educated at Kapunda High School and at the University of Adelaide where he obtained a degree in 1972, an honours degree in 1974 and a PhD in 1979 (all in Arts/History).

Reviews

[TC · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great photographs and maps. Very keen detail in some respects. However, I am/was more interested in the psychological, social, and economical impacts of the war so it was rather boring for me.

[Jbondandrews · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I enjoyed reading Robin Prior's book, I was unimpressed by his comment that 'the termination of alien rule in parts of Eastern Europe and Arabia plainly helped to lessen injustices of the world', injustices in the world go on, and much of the Arab world was controlled by France and Britain, which is still causing problems there even now.

[Brentman99 · Rating 3 out of 5]

My edition was published by Cassell, but had the same number of pages.

A part of the Great War Collection, this book on the First World War had a very good global account of what was going on year by year. However, one thing that annoyed me was that major events, such as the Canadians role in the Hundred Days Battles, were not even given a passing mention.

There were lots of good pictures and some information regarding fronts other than the Western Front, which was nice.

I know that this is part of a series so some things were only covered briefly or left out. It would have been nice if the other books in the series were listed somewhere.

Finally, I found the odd typo, which was surprising given John Keegan was the General Editor.

Overall, if you don't know much about the First World War, this is a good general book to get you started.

[Ahmed · Rating 3 out of 5]

واخيرا اتاحت لي الفرصة لقراءة احداث الحرب العالمية الاولى...كتاب ممتع يتحدث عن احداث الحرب العالمية الاولى من جهة حربية كوجهة جوهرية...اسهاب طويل في الجزء الحربي والخطط والاسلحة المستخدمة...حتى موديلات الاسلحة والمركبات الحربية...كنت اود لو كان الكاتب اكثر تعمقا في الجانب التاريخي ولاحبذا نبذا مبسطة للدول والتوجهات في تلك الحقبة...لانه احيانا يستدل باحداث حصلت في السنوات الثلاثين الاخيرة من القرن التاسع عشر من غير ذكر بسيط لما كان في ذلك الوقت...
شيئ اخر ازعجني وهي اللغة المستخدمة...لا ادري ان كانت الترجمة رديئة...ولاكن اللغة كانت غير عادية وفقيرة في رايي...

[Lghamilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A compact and accessible book on the Great War. Great illustrations of the cited battles, and decent sections on the theaters other than the western trenches.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

A concise, illustrated, John Bull version of the First World War, Prior and Wilson's history takes a birds-eye view of the great conflict and distills that complicated clash of nations into a handful of short chapters. The book's strengths are its brevity and clarity. Without bogging down in the details, you'll get a broad idea of how the major events of the war played out. This coarse-grained approach to history doesn't focus on anything much finer than a front. And the front of principal interest to the authors is the line of trenches stretching from Switzerland to the North Sea. There's little discussion of the war at sea or in the air: these topics are apparently covered in other volumes. And there's just barely enough discussion about how the conflict was fought in Eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa to remind you that this was, after all, a worldwide war. Though the text may leave you with the impression that the battles were fought solely by generals, politicians, and cartographers, the many illustrations will give you some visual sense of what the war was like for the average Fritz, Ivan, Tommy, digger, doughboy, or poilu.

I was surprised to learn that the first and final years of the war were the bloodiest by far, and it was shocking to read how many men fell in a single day of combat. It was also a little disturbing to deal with the authors' white hat, black hat approach to history. They seemed quick to lay all the blame for the war on Germany's doorstep, and just as quick to gild Britain's laurels and overlook its military and political shortcomings. I got the feeling that for most of the war there were only two competent combatants, vicious Germany and dogged Britain, who slugged it out, while the rest of the world stood by bumbling on the sidelines. A melodramatic focus on these two countries, coupled with a wooden, plodding style, gives the book a tone that would have well pleased Colonel Blimp.

Nevertheless, as a convenient, quick review of the purely military aspects of the war in Europe between 1914 and 1918 the book works well. After you've read it, you'll be able to place Cambrai, Ypres, Caporetto, and Passchendaele on the map; tell the difference between a high-explosive and a shrapnel shell; and pick the principal generals and politicians out of a lineup. If, like me, you have been looking for just a dab of history to give you some background and context for the literature that came out of the Great War, this is a good book to start with.

[Harrison Kessel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely good summarization that made the book easy to read. But what I notice is that every author appears to have a different opinion on how the treaty of Versailles affected Germany's Economy and military and how it affected the war. Some authors believed that the treaty was meant to shut out Germany as a world power and effectively destroy its economy while others believe the treaty was fair and did not cause Germany's economy to crash. But, this author did link the treaty to other events future, witch was a lot better then just stating now the treaty of Versailles went. Over all a good book, easy to read and the illustrations are great.

[K.M. Weiland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Concise, if rather smug, account of the war.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know why World War I is such a difficult topic for me to get interested in. This is a quick summary of causes, major battles, etc.

[Lisa]

The First World War by Robin Prior (1999)

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very detailed, historical, fact-based book. An excellent book for the person who lacks basic historical knowledge of World War I.

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

the best introductory book about the complex subject of the Great War that I have found.