The First World War

A Complete History

By: Martin Gilbert

Narrated by: Roger Clark

It was to be the war to end all wars, and it began at 11:15 on the morning of June 28, 1914, in an outpost of the Austro-Hungarian Empire called Sarajevo. It would officially end nearly five years later. Unofficially, however, it has never ended: Many of the horrors we live with today are rooted in the First World War.

The Great War left millions of civilians and soldiers maimed or dead. It also saw the creation of new technologies of destruction: tanks, planes, and submarines; machine guns and field artillery; poison gas and chemical warfare. It introduced U-boat packs and strategic bombing, unrestricted war on civilians and mistreatment of prisoners. But the war changed our world in far more fundamental ways than these.

In its wake, empires toppled, monarchies fell, and whole populations lost their national identities. As political systems and geographic boundaries were realigned, the social order shifted seismically. Manners and cultural norms; literature and the arts; education and class distinctions; all underwent a vast sea change.

©1994 Martin Gilbert (P)2020 Tantor

I found this book to be very informative about WWI

I found this book very informative about the preyloud to WWII also great book

A good long read

I liked it a lot. The book goes in to the thoughts and feelings of the leaders, the soldiers, and the everyday citizen of the time. As well as covering the events really well .

Good Listen

This book was so good for me. It seamlessly described events and reasons for actions in a chronological order. Narrator was great.

A comprehensive and human history of WWI.

A comprehensive and human history of WWI.

There are no shortage of histories of WWI but Gilbert's 1994 history does an admirable job of covering all the major and minor theaters of war as well as the political machinations that fed into the belligerent's decision making. What sets Gilbert apart is both his solid writing and his grounding of the narrative with the human cost of the war. Frequent excerpts from letters home, poems, and other writings by Soldiers on both fronts helps give the narrative a tragic element as in nearly every case, the author of the piece quoted by Gilbert is killed shortly thereafter.

While comprehensive on the military and political fronts insofar as it directly impacts military decision making, Gilbert does not go into great depth on the domestic politics of the belligerents except for Russia -- understandable given the narrative focus. It's a minor quibble, and had he done so, the book would have run into multi-volume territory.

In addition to the human element, what's striking in the history is how frequently smaller "neutral" nations would decide to enter the war on one side or the other on the promise (rarely kept) to expand/gain territory once the war was over. It's been said that war crystalizes the human experience by bringing everything into sharper focus, and Gilbert's compelling history does a fine job presenting that. The constant push/pull between the honorable and the selfish at both the individual and national level makes for an outstanding single volume history.

every person should have to listen to this

perfect all around. 2nd listening for me. their will be a third for sure. we never learn from history. as moving as any subject can ever be..

Best WW1 book I have came across

Done with WW1 now starting WW2 by Roger Clark. He is a master of putting the reader in the story.

Fantastic and comprehensive narrative history

The author covers an extraordinary breadth of events and geography while bringing out the experiences of individual solders through poetry, diary entries, and vignettes. The narrator fits the material perfectly. I highly recommend this audiobook.

Must-listen for history buffs

Martin Gilbert's work is remarkable in his ability to be comprehensive on the macro scale but never more than a couple sentences from weaving in the lived experiences of soldiers and civilians on the ground collected from countless diaries and interviews. You *feel* this war alongside understanding it. A master work.

Good overview with sufficient anecdotes

Lots of great history, with anecdotes from letters, etc. Roger Clark is an excellent narrator.

What an amazing amount of information.

The amount of information contained in this book is mind-blowing. I'm completely blown away by all the research and effort that went in to compiling this amazing book.

If you're a history nerd, you definitely can't go wrong with giving this a listen/read. I learned so much that I listened to most of the chapters multiple times to make sure I fully absorbed all the information that I could.

I will surely be purchasing the author's book chronicling the events of World War Two. If it's even half as well researched and put together as this one, it will totally be worth the money.