Author: James Charles Roy
Hardback (6.5×9.5 inches). 772 pages. 2023.
Subtitle:Â 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.
–Reviewed by Russ Lockwood
