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Drawing on exhaustive research, this remarkable, intimate account tells the story of how World War I reduced Europe’s mightiest empires to rubble, killed twenty million people, and cracked the foundations of the world we live in today.
On a summer day in 1914, a nineteen-year-old Serbian nationalist gunned down Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo. While the world slumbered, monumental forces were shaken. In less than a month, a combination of ambition, deceit, fear, jealousy, missed opportunities, and miscalculation sent Austro-Hungarian troops marching into Serbia, German troops streaming toward Paris, and a vast Russian army into war, with England as its ally. As crowds cheered their armies on, no one could guess what lay ahead: four long years of slaughter, physical and moral exhaustion, and the near collapse of a civilization that until 1914 had dominated the globe.
Praise for A World Undone
“Thundering, magnificent . . . [A World Undone] is a book of true greatness that prompts moments of sheer joy and pleasure. . . . It will earn generations of admirers.”—The Washington Times
“Meyer’s sketches of the British Cabinet, the Russian Empire, the aging Austro-Hungarian Empire . . . are lifelike and plausible. His account of the tragic folly of Gallipoli is masterful. . . . [A World Undone] has an instructive value that can scarcely be measured”—Los Angeles Times
“An original and very readable account of one of the most significant and often misunderstood events of the last century.”—Steve Gillon, resident historian, The History Channel
- Sales Rank: #16177 in Books
- Brand: Meyer, G. J.
- Published on: 2007-05-29
- Released on: 2007-05-29
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.20" h x .18" w x 5.30" l, 1.70 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 816 pages
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Meyer sets out to integrate the war's discrete elements into a single work of popular history and delivers a worthy counterpoint to Hew Strachan's magisterial three-volume scholarly project, The First World War. A journalist and author (Executive Blues), Meyer doesn't offer original synthesis or analysis, but he does bring a clear, economical style to the war's beginnings; the gridlock produced by the successes and failures of both sides; the divided military and political counsels that hobbled efforts at resolving operational and diplomatic stalemates; and above all the constant carnage, on a scale that staggers the imagination. Meyer provides brief, useful background on subjects from the Armenian genocide to the Alsace-Lorraine question—topics he considers crucial to an understanding of the war, but too cursorily explained in most popular histories. Correspondingly, he blends "foreground, background, and sidelights" to highlight the complex interactions of apparently unconnected events behind the four-year catastrophic war that destroyed a world and defined a century. Constructing a readable, coherent text in that format is a demanding challenge, accomplished with brio. (May 30)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
One only has to look at a few of today's "hotspots" (the Balkans and the Middle East) to realize that World War I's effects remain a determining factor in international relations. It may seem impossible to write an "intimate" account of such a global catastrophe, but Meyer has succeeded in doing just that: a masterful narrative history that eloquently conveys the sense of a civilization engaged in massive self-destruction, while its leaders, blinded by hubris, nationalism, or outright ignorance, led the charge. Although Meyer pays ample attention to the broad themes of causation and military strategies, he consistently reminds us that the war was a compilation of millions of individual tragedies. He captures the horror and futility of trench warfare, the slaughter at Gallipoli, and the genocide of Armenians as experienced by those who were there. Meyer also offers interesting and controversial insights into the motivations of many of the key participants. This is an outstanding survey of a cataclysm that still casts a shadow over world affairs. Jay Freeman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
"A World Undone is an original and very readable account of one of the most significant and often misunderstood events of the last century. With an historians eye for clear headed analysis and a storytellers talent for detail and narrative, G.J Meyer presents a compelling account of the blunders that produced the world's first "great war" and set the stage for many of the tragic events that followed." —Steve Gillon, Resident Historian, The History Channel
"This is one of those books where you read every page.... Meyer organizes his book chronologically, and accompanies each chapter with a short background essay.... [A World Undone] has the very best qualities for this kind of comprehensive approach: a gift for compression and an eye for the telling detail." —Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
“A comprehensive history aimed at the general reader....You finish this book feeling you’ve learned everything anyone reasonably needs to know about The Great War.” —Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
“Meyer breathes life into the human story within the Great War. He provides in-depth profiles of many of the political and military leaders of that era, and explains why they were so important....This is a literary vision of WWI that few of us have ever encountered. Simply put, this is historical reporting at its best.” —Smoky Mountain Sentinel
“Thundering, magnificent...this is a book of true greatness that prompts moments of sheer joy and pleasure. Researched to last possible dot...It will earn generations of admirers.” —Washington Times
"Especially suited for the interested American reader…. Meyer's sketches of the British Cabinet, the Russian Empire, the aging Austro-Hungarian Empire, the leaders of Prussia with their newly minted swagger, are lifelike and plausible. His account of the tragic folly of Gallipoli is masterful…. It should go without saying that in 2006 … [A World Undone] has an instructive value that can scarely be measured."—Los Angeles Times
"Accomplished with brio... [Meyer] blends 'foreground, background, and sidelights' to highlight the complex interactions of apparently unconnected events behind the four-year catastrophic war that destroyed a world and defined a century."—Publishers Weekly, starred review
From the Hardcover edition.
Most helpful customer reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful.
An excellent lesson of history
By Kindle Customer
After reading a book on WWII, had to delve into the rest of the story. One might conclude that the 20 years between these wars was nothing but a pause between a continuous war. This book makes that a reality. It also brings to light how these wars have impacted our lives today. Much of the turbulence in the world today are the aftershocks of the 2 world wars. This book really filled in the voids of the WWII book.
81 of 84 people found the following review helpful.
Really Well Done; Creative; Shallow in Spots
By Dr. Philip J. Kinsler
G. W. Meyer takes on an enormous task in this book. He tries to tell not just what happened leading up to and through WWI, but the important historical background to give the events context. He pairs a Background chapter with what we can call each 'Events' chapter. This is an extremely creative way to write about what is already a huge tableau. It provides the unfamiliar reader some context, but is inevitably frustrating to those who have gone deeper. By the structure of the work, Meyer has taken on the task, for example, of summarizing the over 1000 year history of the Hapsburg Empire in ten or fifteen pages. So, over-generalizations and the occasional plain error creep in. For an example, at one point Meyer states that Russia had never been made to compromise with other European states--apparently glossing over their defeats by Napoleon and the entire Crimean War. These grate on the reader who has read more on each of these Background chapters.
That being said, in a book for a general audience for whom this is perhaps their first introduction to European history of the period, this is an enormous achievement. Meyer takes a lens from far above what is happening, attempting to show the over-arching reasons why certain things happened. He is more likely to discuss the idea of Ludendorff creating a flexible defense, rather than having troops in a rigid and fixed front line, than he is to talk about what happened at a certain hill or dale. You get the overview--why were the Germans almost successful in 1918 after years of stalemate--rather than they took this town or this fort. When a city is mentioned, he tells you why this place was important. For example, Amiens is where most of the French Railways came together and had the town been lost, France would not have been able to move troops and might have needed an armistice.
The book reads easily and crisply. Meyer never loses sight of the enormous human cost of each campaign, and often puts this in a modern context--Losses for both sides in Passchendale were 3 times or 6 times (the detail escapes me at this moment) what the U.S. lost in the entire Vietnam War. He provides interesting and useful character sketches of the major players, each of whom has of course spawned multiple full length biographies.
If you've done no reading on this subject, this book is highly recommended. I passed it on to my wife who is explicitly NOT interested in history, thinking that this way of telling the story of the cosmic changes wrought by this period might actually grab her.
For those who want to go deeper, certainly Barbara Tuchman's 'Guns of August' is a masterpiece. John Keegan's 'The First World War' is excellent on the military side. For those who are interested in how and why the apparently mighty Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed, Frederic Morton has two wonderful books, 'A Nervous Splendor' covering the late 1800's, and 'Thunder at Twilight' covering that Empire in 1913-14.
World War I was the death knell of one kind of civilization and the launching of several competing models of other ways to organize a national community. It deserves study, and this work is an excellent start.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful.
Great overview of World War I
By Mike From Mesa
Like most people today World War II has always been more immediate to me than World War I. It is not a matter of the years' removal from the war as much as the events themselves. The immediate causes of World War II were clear from the rise of Nazism in Germany to the invasion and attempted subjugation of China by Japan while the causes of World War I were more obscure. Further, the results of the second war, from the division of Europe through the rise of an essentially unarmed Japan, are still part of yesterday's headlines while the immediate results of World War I (the Weimar Republic, the occupation of the Rhineland, the Free City of Danzig) are essentially hidden in the mists of history. Because of this I have long looked for a clear explanation for the start of World War I as well as an overview of the war itself.
I had long heard about the terrible loss of life in that war without really having a good understanding of the "hows" and "whys" of the war itself. Added to this problem was my lack of understanding of exactly how the old structure of Europe, now long gone, either caused or contributed to the causes of this war. I had read other books to try to understand this terrible tragedy (The Guns of August and The Zimmerman Telegram by Barbara Tuchman, World War I by John Keegan and others) but never felt as though I had an understanding of the events until I finally I found Mr Meyer's wonderful book. First I need to state that this review is for the Kindle version of A World Undone and some of these comments may not apply to the print version.
As my interest was for more of an overview of the war rather than a detailed account of the battles this book served my needs perfectly. It covered the war from the assassination that triggered it through the collapse of the German Army in 1918 without ever descending into the troop movement details more than absolutely necessary. All the important battles are covered as are the political events behind them but, just as importantly, it covers the backgrounds of the people and political entities involved so as to make the actual events much more understandable.
The trigger for the war was the assassination of the Arch Duke Ferdinand by Serbian nationalists. Why was Serbia so antagonistic toward the Austro-Hungarian Empire? And why were the Balkans such an unstable area? These questions, and more, were covered in the background chapter on Serbia.
Why was no one able to stop the war from actually starting, given the month and more between the assassination and the declarations of war? Explained in the first chapters of this book.
Why was there such bad blood between the German and French/British governments? Explained in the background chapter on the Hohenzollerns.
Why was the Austro-Hungarian Empire so weak? Explained in the background chapter on the Hapsburgs.
Why did the war go on for so long? And why were both the British and French generals unable to react more quickly? Explained in the background chapters on the British and French generals. And so on throughout the book.
In short this book provided me with a level of background detail that allowed me to understand the events that were happening at that time. No other book on World War I that I had read gave me anything as nearly complete and hence no other book gave me the ability to properly understand what happened.
The Kindle version of this book, however, is not perfect and there are some issues that I feel need to be mentioned. There are not enough maps to properly explain the troop movements that are described and to display the front lines. The maps that are included are far too small to be of any help and cannot be enlarged on the Kindle. Even when viewed on the iPad, where the maps can be enlarged, the detail is insufficient to really see anything. I had to go to John Keegan's book on World War I and use the maps there to make any sense of some of the battles. Similarly the photos that are included in the book are too few and too small to be of much help as well as being only individual portraits and hence not showing anything of importance beyond the images of the people described.
But these limitations should not prevent anyone who has an interest in understanding World War I from buying this book. It is, quite simply, the best book on the period that I have ever read unless someone wants much more detail on the individual battles and troop movements. If you want battle details John Keegan's book might be better, but as an overview of the war this book is the best I have ever seen.
Highly recommended.
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