First World War

[Jack Sprat]

Three books among my favorites are: The Proud Tower, The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman; Dreadnought by Robert K Massie.

Are any of you fascinated by The Great War, The War to End All Wars, and do you have any favorites of that war that you would recommend? Thanks.

[bluedigger]

1. John Keegan is my favorite military historian.

http://www.amazon.com/First-World-War-John-Keegan/dp/0375700455

[Jack Sprat]

2. Thanks.

Of the 3 books I recommended, The Proud Toweris more of a lead up to the war, rather than the war itself. Dreadnoughtis very detailed and not as easy to read for some, but I personally loved reading it anyway. I liked it even more than the Tuchman duo, but it is well over 700 pages as I recall.

[bluedigger]

3. Keegan is very readable.

He doesn't get into root causes much, but he explains campaigns and battles like nobody's business. I also liked A History of Warfare and Fields of Battle: The Wars for North America which is an interesting look at how geography shaped American history.

[Adsos Letter]

6. Keegan's "Face of Battle" is one of my favorites of his work.

He compares the soldiers' experience at the Somme with Agincourt and Waterloo. Very good reading.

[bluedigger]

8. I like the way he takes examples from different periods of history to make his case.

He was very good at showing the impact of change on military doctrine.

[Sherman A1]

4. Have you checked

the podcasts from The Pritzker Military Library in Chicago? I know I have listened to many of them while commuting and doing the mindless part of my job on Sunday mornings. Pretty much all author visits and some cover WWI. I really have enjoyed them and the variety of topics and the Free part is really good to.

[excringency]

5. A classic in the field

is "Germany's Aims in the First World War" by Fritz Fischer. Fischer was a German historian who took a great deal of heat when this came out in 1961. I haven't come across anything since that does a better job of spelling out how the whole disaster started.

[Adsos Letter]

7. Tuchman's books are very good.

Lyn MacDonald's Somme is also quite good.

The BBC (I think) did a series, The First World War, which was pretty good. They also did a much longer one, The Great War, which I've not seen, but was a model for The World at War.

[yortsed snacilbuper]

9. Tigers in Normandy [Kindle Edition

link