Promoting the study of military history through the art of tabletop miniature wargaming

BOOK REVIEW: All The World At War

Author: James Charles Roy

Hardback (6.5×9.5 inches). 772 pages. 2023.

Subtitle: People and Places 1914-1918

This thick tome looks imposing, but the smooth prose makes this an accessible recap of notable battles and officers of WWI. Certainly, many a battle on a wide variety of fronts are missing, but enough are presented to analyze the war’s impact on the soldiers and society.

Covered are: Pre-war posturing and manipulations, Liege, Tannenburg, Gallipoli, Verdun, Passchendaele, Ireland, Jutland (and the navies in general), Russian revolution, Lawrence of Arabia, Von Richthofen (and the air war in general), and the Versailles Peace Talks and resulting Treaty of Versailles.

That list is just a list. The information within is quite well ordered, well written, and results in explanations of the impact of each of these on the war as a whole.

One typo: “tao” (p162) should be “to.” Also, one curious off-hand remark about post-war problems claims that France did not develop a bomber in the 1930s that could deliver a full payload on Berlin (p562), which is suspect. The French Air Force, which suffered a whole host of problems, may not have bombed Berlin in 1939, but bombers with range were available.

The book contains four black and white maps, 83 black and white photos, five black and white illustrations, five color photos, and 10 color illustrations.

It’s a credit to Roy’s skill that this was such a readable account of WWI. Sure, it “only” hits the highlights of the war, but it includes plenty of chronological highlights to offer insight into how the war started, how it progressed, how it ended, and how the victors set up the next world war. Well done.

Enjoyed it.

Share the Post:
Related Posts
Secret Link

Contact HMGS

Please only use this form if you can’t use one of the other Contact Us links.

Contact Outreach

Please only use this form to communicate with the Outreach volunteers.

Contact Membership support

Please only use this form to communicate with the Membership volunteers.

Contact Information Technology

Please only use this form to communicate with the Information Technology volunteers.

Contact Fall In! Exhibitors Manager

Please only use this form to communicate with the Fall In! volunteers.

Contact Fall In! Events Manager

Please only use this form to communicate with the Fall In! volunteers.

Contact Fall In!

Please only use this form to communicate with the Fall In! volunteers.

Contact Cold Wars Exhibitor Manager

Please only use this form to communicate with the Cold Wars volunteers.

Contact Cold Wars Events Manager

Please only use this form to communicate with the Cold Wars volunteers.

Contact Cold Wars

Please only use this form to communicate with the Cold Wars team.

Contact Historicon Exhibitors Manager

Please only use this form to communicate with the Historicon Exhibitors Manager.

Contact Historicon Events

Please only use this form to communicate with the Historicon Events Manager.

Contact Historicon

Please only use this form to communicate with the Historicon team.

Contact Convention Operations

Please only use this form to communicate with the Convention Operations volunteers.

Contact Marketing & Communications

Please only use this form to communicate with the Marketing & Communications volunteers.

Report a Website Issue