An original and spellbinding reinterpretation of the most significant
events of the Great War
Nearly a century has passed since the assassination of Austria-Hungary's
Archduke Ferdinand, yet the repercussions of the devastating global
conflict that followed echo still. In this provocative book, historian
Ian Beckett turns the spotlight on twelve particular events of the First
World War that continue to shape the world today. Focusing on episodes
both well known and scarcely remembered, Beckett tells the story of the
Great War from a new perspective, stressing accident as much as
strategy, the small as well as the great, the social as well as the
military, and the long term as much as the short term.
The Making of the First World War is global in scope. The book travels
from the deliberately flooded fields of Belgium to the picture palaces
of Britain's cinema, from the idealism of Wilson's Washington to the
catastrophic German Lys offensive of 1918. While war is itself an agent
of change, Beckett shows, the most significant developments occur not
only on the battlefields or in the corridors of power, but also in
hearts and minds. Nor may the decisive turning points during years of
conflict be those that were thought to be so at the time. With its wide
reach and unexpected conclusions, this book revises--and expands--our
understanding of the legacy of the First World War.
