The Great War: Perspectives on the First World War

The Great War: Perspectives on the First World War. Edited by Robert Cowley. New York: Random House, 2003. 509 pp. $29.95. Reviewed by

The echoes of World War I, fought almost a century ago, continue to be heard to the present day. World War I--called the Great War by the British--was a watershed conflict, ushering in an era of total war and planting the seeds of World War II and the Cold War. It propelled the United States from being a minor country to a major player on the international stage. World War I also caused the demise of dynasties and empires, which released the evil spirits of ethnic strife and internecine warfare, seen most recently ravaging the Balkans and Middle East.

His volume is an anthology of 30 World War I-related articles culled from the pages of MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History. These 30 essays are grouped together into five main sections, excluding the "Prologue" and "'Aftermath," each containing one essay. These five main sections are "Deadlock" (seven essays); "The Naval War" (four essays); "A World at Arms" (four chapters); "The First Air War" (three chapters); and "Tipping Points" (10 essays). A number of essays are about Western Front topics, and others cover (in additional to naval and aerial topics) such as the lesser known "peripheral" campaigns at Gallipoli, Salonika, and Kut, Mesopotamia--the latter in present day Iraq.

All of these essays, intended for the popular history reader, are informative as well as entertaining. Some of the essays are worth mentioning individually. Bruce I. Gudmundsson concentrates on the German-French engagement at Bertrix, one of seven division-sized battles during the German offensive in August 1914. The Christmas Truce of 1914, acts of spontaneous peace and fraternity that took place in the trenches near Ypres, is described poignantly by Stanley Weintraub. The First Battle of the Falklands, chronicled by Ronald H. Spector, took place between naval forces in December 1914 and "ended in a sweeping [British] military success." Tim Travers based his essay, "Gallipoli: The Other Side of the Hill," on research conducted in Ottoman military archives. The author of more than 40 books, Thomas Fleming writes a short biography of General John J. Pershing and assesses his military leadership in "'Iron General."

This collection of well-written and interesting essays on World War I topics, frequently conveying a sense of immediacy as well as considered analyses, provides interesting perspectives on various aspects of the "war to end all wars.'" It deserves a wide readership.

COPYRIGHT 2004 U.S. Army Infantry School
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group