The first world war in 1914, decades of european resentments and rivalries finally exploded into a massive war a conflict far larger, bloodier and longerlasting than anyone could have imagined. Nearly a century has passed since the outbreak of world war i, yet as military historian hew strachan. Hew strachan training, morale and modern war germany lost the two world wars, and yet its army continued fighting until the very end of both. This is the first truly definitive history of the first world war, the war that has done most to shape the twentieth century. Hew strachan has completed a book for cambridge university press called the direction of war. A brilliant and penetrating new history of the first world war by one of the world s foremost experts on the conflict. Technology, and the british army 18151854 by sir hew strachan 19851127 01jan1656.
The conflagration that resulted reached farflung corners of the globe and affected many of the countries of the earth. Almost everyone born in the twentieth century grew up in the shadow of the first world war. These headquarters develop plans providing strategy a home and create a strategy bridge back to their governments. Publication date 2003 topics first world war, wwi, ww1, world war i, history, conflict collection opensource language english.
The first world war hew strachan a century has passed since the outbreak of world war i, yet as military historian hew strachan argues in this brilliant and authoritative new book, the legacy of the war to end all wars is with us still. Hew strachan was born and brought up in edinburgh, and was elected a fellow of the royal society of edinburgh 2003 and awarded an hon. It is based on the 2003 book of the same name by oxford history professor hew strachan. It sparked the russian revolution, and it launched america as a world power. To arms is hew strachan s most complete and definitive study of the opening of the first world war. Strachan s essential point is to demonstrate that wwi was indeed a world war involving virtually the whole globe. I was really pleased with hew strachan s first volume he covered all the military, political and historical viewpoints in really serious depth, and it was also highly readable. Even in places where the war hit hardestoddly, england suffered more losses in the first than the second world war its in danger of being lost to memory, and strachan s overview brings into sharp focus the proximate causes and critical moments of the conflict, from the wellknown jutland, the somme to the comparatively little.
It will soon be close to a century since the outbreak of the first world war, yet as military historian hew strachan argues in this brilliant and authoritative onevolume history, the legacy of the war to end all wars is with us still. Nearly a century has passed since the outbreak of world war i, yet as military historian hew strachan argues in this brilliant and authoritative new book, the legacy of the war to end all wars is with us still. The first world war in africa hew strachan download. The fault lines from its failed peace settlement led to a second.
His promised 3volume series looked like becoming the definitive history of the war. Such a blow, struck by a master tactician european armies and the. Tenpart series based on the book by hew strachan, professor of the history of war at oxford which tells the story as never before, dispelling the myths and offering new and provocative answers to. Todays politicians, who talk albeit tautologically of an increasingly globalized world, forget how already globalized the world seemed in 1914, especially if you happened to live in london. Hew strachan was born on september 1, 1949 in edinburgh, scotland as hew francis anthony strachan. Hew strachan is one of the world s foremost experts on the great war of 191418. Read the first world war pdf by hew strachan penguin books this serious, compact survey of the war s history stands out as the most wellinformed, accessible work available. Sir hew francis anthony strachan strn strawn, dl, frse, frhists, fba born 1 september 1949 is a british military historian, well known for his work on the administration of the british army and the history of the first world war. The outbreak of the first world war by hew strachan. The first world war by hew strachan the video series the first world war is based on this book.
Professor sir hew strachan all souls college, oxford. This is likely to be the most indispensable onevolume work on the subject since john keegans first world. Very few wars have had such broad impact on european society. Oxford professor hew strachan discusses different ways of marking this historic. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read the first world war.
Current strategy in historical perspective, which will be published in december 20. His ongoing threevolume history of the conflict, the first of which was published. Forget about those working class oiks in the trenches. How should we approach the centenary of world war i. The first world war 2003 is a tenpart channel 4 documentary television series surveying the history of world war i 19141918. Hew strachan hew strachan is chichele professor of the history of war and fellow of all souls college, oxford, where he also directs the leverhulme programme on the changing character of war.
Between 1992 and 2001, he was professor of modern history at the university of glasgow and established its scottish centre forwar studies in 1996. Chichele professor of the history of war at the university of oxford and a fellow of all souls college since 2002, and was director of the oxford programme on the changing character of war. The first world war book by hew strachan official publisher. This is a history of the first world war from the perspective of the high commands. This article discusses the widening of the first world war from a european war to a global war and what that meant for the participants. Strachan has done a masterful job of reexamining the causes, the major campaigns, and the consequences of the first world war, compressing a lifetime of knowledge. He is also life fellow of corpus christi college, cambridge, where he was successively research fellow, admissions tutor and senior tutor, 197592. Japan participated in world war i from 1914 to 1918 in an alliance with entente powers and played an important role in securing the sea lanes in the west pacific and indian oceans against the imperial german navy as the member of. The first world war hew strachan penguin nonclassics 2005 384 pages english pdf,rtf,epub,lit,lrf,mobi it will soon be close to a century since the outbreak of the first world war, yet as military historian hew strachan argues in this brilliant and authoritative onevolume history, the legacy of the war to end all wars is with us still. The first world this serious, compact survey of the war s history stands out as the most wellinformed, accessible work available. More recent approaches have embraced cultural, diplomatic, economic, and social history. The first world war hew strachan oxford university press. The first world war by hew strachan, paperback barnes.
His perspective is the result of a determined effort to avoid the excessive concentration on the western front found in most of the english language and french literature. Hew strachan is a widely respected british historian of world war one. The editor of the oxford history of the first world war, he is writing a threevolume history of the first world war, the first volume of which. I also realized that my knowledge of wwi is woefully inept considering i have a history degree. Max hastings called it one of the most impressive books of modern history in a generation, while richard holmes. Morrone project interview with the author of the first world war hew strachan. The first generation of its historians had access to only a limited range of sources, and their focus was. I read the first world war by hew strachan mostly because it was recommended by the army chief of staff.
Hew strachan s offensive has been brewing for some time. Marshall lecture in military history clausewitz and the first world war hew strachan abstract englishlanguage authors have blamed clausewitz twice over for his part in the first world war. Nearly a century has passed since the outbreak of world war i, yet as military historian hew strachan winner of the 2016 pritzker literature award argues in. This is the first truly definitive history of world war i, the war that has had the greatest impact on the course of the twentieth century. Illustrates the war from causes to consequences, from the eastern front to the western front, from the strategy. The oxford illustrated history of the first world war new edition. For the seasoned reader of the first world war, i bet that you will learn something new from this book. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. The first world war hew strachan pdf by gothicjewelry57.
I took a class on world war ii and the us civil war. For military organisations facing the chance, friction, and the uncertainty of war, hew strachan s the direction of war is a valuable resource to guide military leaders and planners. For the casual reader, stay away from this book and read hew strachan s other history of the first world war. There are dozens of movies about wwii and the civil war. His ongoing threevolume history of the conflict, the first of which was published in 2001, is likely to become the standard academic reference work. He is known for his work on the first world war 2003, the passing bells 2014 and doomsday. Liddell hart attributed to him a doctrine of absolute war, embraced by european general staffs and emulated by the british. Even more than world war ii, the first world war continues to shape the politics and international relations of our world, especially in hot spots like the middle east and the balkans. The first world war one of the leading historians of wwi offers this superior onevolume version of his massive projected threevolume work, the first volume of which, to arms, clocked in at 1250plus pages last year. This serious, compact survey of the war s history stands out as the most wellinformed, accessible work available.
Now, key sections from this magisterial work are published as individual paperbacks, each complete in itself, and with a new introduction by the author. Hew strachan is one of the worlds foremost experts on the great war of 191418. Hew strachan first word war volume 2 books and book. The british army, manpower and society into the twentyfirst century 29. Hew strachans offensive has been brewing for some time. A century has passed since the outbreak of world war i, yet as military historian hew strachan argues in this brilliant and authoritative new book, the legacy of the war to end all wars is with us still. There is little consideration of the experiences of the ordinary soldiers, or of the civilian populations, though the. The first world war kindle edition by strachan, hew. This is not to deny that there is evidence of increased desertion in 1918, nor is it to sustain the stabintheback legend. The horrors of the second world war, still within living memory, defined war for the rest of the twentieth century, while the decades which followed, even if they were shaped during the cold war by the threat 2 hew strachan text layout. Hew strachan the first world war hew strachan a century has passed since the outbreak of world war i, yet as military historian hew strachan argues in this brilliant and authoritative new book, the legacy of the war to end all wars is with us still. The first world war, by hew strachan aidanjmcquade. The editor of the oxford history of the first world war, he is writing a threevolume history of the first world war, the first volume of which was.