Ring of Steel: Germany and Austria-Hungary in World War I

A prize-winning, magisterial history of World War I from the perspective of the defeated Central Powers
For the Central Powers, the First World War started with high hopes for an easy victory. But those hopes soon deteriorated as Germany's attack on France failed, Austria-Hungary's armies suffered catastrophic losses, and Britain's ruthless blockade brought both nations to the brink of starvation. The Central powers were trapped in the Allies' ever-tightening Ring of Steel.
In this compelling history, Alexander Watson retells the war from the perspective of its losers: not just the leaders in Berlin and Vienna, but the people of Central Europe. The war shattered their societies, destroyed their states, and imparted a poisonous legacy of bitterness and violence. A major reevaluation of the First World War, Ring of Steel is essential for anyone seeking to understand the last century of European history.

• Germany Ascendant: The Eastern Front 1915 (General Military)
• The Fall of the Ottomans: The Great War in the Middle East
• The Habsburg Empire: A New History
• Russia's Last Gasp: The Eastern Front 1916–17 (General Military)
• Fall of the Double Eagle: The Battle for Galicia and the Demise of Austria-Hungary
• The Splintered Empires: The Eastern Front 1917–21
• Collision of Empires: The War on the Eastern Front in 1914 (General Military)
• The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914
• Heart of Europe: A History of the Holy Roman Empire
• The Kaiser's Army: The German Army in World War One