World War One

Introduction; 1. The world in 1914 and the origins of the war; 2. The July Crisis, 1914; 3. The European war unfolds, August-December 1914; 4. The world war: east Asia, the Pacific, Africa; 5. The deepening stalemate: Europe, 1915; Essay chapter 1. Daily life in Anzac Cove; 6. The home fronts (1914-1916); Essay chapter 2. The trenches and trench warfare; 7. Raising the stakes: Europe, 1916; Essay chapter 3. With Lenin aboard the 'sealed train'; 8. Upheaval and uncertainty: Europe, 1917; 9. The war at sea (1915-1918); Essay chapter 4. Daily life aboard a U-boat; 10. The US enters the war; 11. The home fronts (1916-1918); 12. The world war: the Middle East and India; Essay chapter 5. The legacy of the trenches: mind, body, spirit; 13. Endgame: Europe, 1918; 14. The Paris peace conference; 15. Legacy; Conclusion.

Lawrence Sondhaus is Professor of History at the University of Indianapolis, where he is Director of the Institute for the Study of War and Diplomacy. His previous publications include Franz Conrad von Hotzendorf: Architect of the Apocalypse (2000), Naval Warfare, 1815-1914 (2001), and Strategic Culture and Ways of War (2006).

'Here is a global history of a global war. This volume is particularly useful on the Central Powers, and on the way in which the revolutionary currents unleashed by the war swept away all three of the empires - German, Austro-Hungarian, and Turkish - who challenged Britain, France, Italy and Russia for dominance of the international order. The fact that the Russian empire followed the path to collapse reinforces Sondhaus's claim that the Great War introduced a revolutionary wave in Europe which in time swept over the rest of the world.' Jay Winter, Yale University 'This provocative analysis convincingly presents World War I as both a global war and a global revolution. Alike in military, political, cultural and intellectual contexts the Great War generated a broad spectrum of responses to the same set of experiences. All of them, however, contributed to a paradigm shift: a fundamental redefinition of what societies and individuals could be coaxed, cozened, or compelled to endure without breaking. A revolution indeed - one whose legacy still shapes headlines.' Dennis Showalter, Colorado College 'Lawrence Sondhaus has set out to provide a new history of the First World War that draws on the latest scholarship, but yet remains accessible. He has succeeded admirably in his task and, as a distinguished scholar of Austria-Hungary, is able constantly to remind his readers that this was a global conflict, and not one fought exclusively on the Western Front. Special sections examining the personal experience of war, as well as the key historiographical debates, also enliven the text for the general reader.' Ian F. W. Beckett, University of Kent '... beautifully produced and presented ... Maps and illustrations are expertly annotated and placed where they belong in the book. Cambridge [University Press] can be well proud of this superb book. It deserves to be widely used on college courses on the Great War.' Holger Herwig, Journal of Military History