The Great War: A Combat History of the First World War

Named one of the Ten Best Books of 2013 by The Economist

World War I altered the landscape of the modern world in every conceivable arena. Millions died; empires collapsed; new ideologies and political movements arose; poison gas, warplanes, tanks, submarines, and other technologies appeared. "Total war" emerged as a grim, mature reality.

In The Great War, Peter Hart provides a masterful combat history of this global conflict. Focusing on the decisive engagements, Hart explores the immense challenges faced by the commanders on all sides. He surveys the belligerent nations, analyzing their strengths, weaknesses, and strategic imperatives. Russia, for example, was obsessed with securing an exit from the Black Sea, while France--having lost to Prussia in 1871, before Germany united--constructed a network of defensive alliances, even as it held a grudge over the loss of Alsace-Lorraine. Hart offers deft portraits of the commanders, the prewar plans, and the unexpected obstacles and setbacks that upended the initial operations.

• Now It Can Be Told
• The First World War
• A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914 to 1918
• The Somme: The Darkest Hour on the Western Front
• The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916
• The Last Battle: Victory, Defeat, and the End of World War I
• The Guns of August: The Pulitzer Prize-Winning Classic About the Outbreak of World War I
• Storm of Steel: (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
• Storm of Steel (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
• The Guns of August (Modern Library 100 Best Nonfiction Books)