A World Undone

This book does a great job of explaining the beginnings, course, and outcome of the war in an enlightening way that doesn’t feel tedious. Along the way there are mini-chapters that explain various elements of background to give context to the people and events being discussed in the main chapters. I have read many books on WWI and this is probably the best to start with as it really does help the reader to make sense of all of the disparate elements inherent in a telling of a worldwide war.

Great overview. I like that it is written in chronological order so as to show the larger picture. Decisions about which front to open up, to reinforce, to focus on, etc. were made on that larger scale. It is readable, and a good balance of personal and geopolitical.

During a recent trip to rural France, I was struck by the fact that every town, however small, had a stone memorial to its WWI dead, each with many names enscribed. There is a reason for that and the reason is clearly explained in this book. As you read "A World Undone", at first you are struck by the tremendous numbers of dead and wounded in each battle; 27 thousand killed here, 18 thousand there. The carnage was unbeliveable.

Why did this happen? The author makes this clear in many ways, sorting out a complex situation and laying out the elements of unspeakable diaster. If you read one book on WWI, this should be it.

The causes of the conflict have always been obscure and complex, but this book explains the pre-war situation well and the forces, seemingly beyond control, that lead to the unstoppable clash of countries that were more alike each other than they were different.

I do have a few gripes. The war in the air is given short mention. The submarine campaign gets more coverage, but not by much. These two aspects of the war were not key to the outcome, but were important as they led to use of subs and aircraft in WWII, which were decisive.

Another element missing is the motivation of the foot soldiers, who did most of the dying. What caused them to hurl themselves against impregnable defenses again and again for no gain?

All in all, a very logical, lucid account of a war with was anything but.

For me, a great historian is a great storyteller, and G. J. Meyer is a great storyteller. Though I've read Tuchman and Keegan, fine narrators themselves, I find Meyer the most engaging. Here's his plain-language précis of the origins of the World War I aka The Great War:

"Men with the power to decide the fate of Europe did the things that brought the war on and failed to do the things that might have kept the war from happening. They told lies, made mistakes, and missed opportunities. With very few if any exceptions they were decent, well-intended men, and almost always acted for what they thought were the best of reasons. But little of what they did produced the results they intended."

Historicism is the belief that history has a life of its own, that history is a tidal force, which sweeps people and events in its wake. The tides which swept through Europe, in the last half of the 19th and first two decades of the 20th centuries, completely overwhelmed the individuals who were trying to sail their ships of state through them. What had worked for them before no longer worked. Even the best and the brightest amongst them failed. Their epoch was gone, but they didn't know it. Even after the catastrophe they were totally oblivious. In the 1920s Earl Haig was still insisting on the indispensability of the "well-bred horse" on the battlefield.

The generals were swept away by the new technologies of warfare for which they had no new order of battle, and the politicians were sweeped away by socio-political forces they did not understand. Emperor Franz Joseph clung to his ancient and obsolete court protocols like fetishes, Kaiser Willhelm played toy soldier, Czar Nicholas hated his job and took his marching orders from his wife, who in turn took hers from a dissolute monk. England and France were ruled by cynics.

Meyer agrees with the consensus that the Great War broke out because men wittingly or unwittingly let events take over, so that after a certain tipping point there was no going back. What the tipping point was is an interesting debate. Meyer's tipping point is the conventional one, the assassination of the archduke of Austria, in Sararevo, Bosnia, on 28 June 1914. I should rather put the tipping point in 1908, when Austria-Hungary formally annexed Bosnia-Herzegovina. There had been an informal agreement between the Austrian and Russian foreign ministers, that if Russia acquiesced to the annexation, then Austria would support Russia's expansion into the Dardanelles. The Russians lived up to their part, but Austrians reneged on theirs. Since none of the other powers would approve Russia's move, the Russians, having been played, were humiliated and furious. They were still seething, "Never again!" six years later. While Sarajevo was the spark, Russia was the tinder. It was Russia's mobilization against Austria, when the latter sought to break up Serbia after the archduke's assassination, and Germany's "blank check" of support for Austria, "which turned a regional conflict into a world war."

A World Undone has been recommended as a primer for those unfamiliar with The Great War. It certainly is that. But Meyers has a clear point of view, which readers with a background and their own point of view will enjoy debating. As said, Meyer is a great story teller. His prose reminds me of A.J.P. Taylor's classic The Struggle for Mastery in Europe: 1848-1918. Where Taylor was a revelation for an undergrad history major, Meyer is a fresh riff on a familiar subject for a history buff, and a nice thick juicy summer read.

Having just finished Doris Kearns Goodwin's wonderful Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, I wouldn't have expected to be blown away by a history, but this one is really impressive! Meyer's sympathy for the characters, his humor, his concern for the needs of his reader and his uncanny ability to make a huge and complex story understandable makes this one of the best non-fiction books I've ever read.

His background sections and photos are interesting and informative, provide greater context or human detail, and a break from the descriptions of the horrendous battles. The brief final section, where he follows up on the lives of the main characters is outstanding. His use of first-hand accounts, anecdotes and memorable quotes kept me involved as in a novel. I read it on my Kindle, where his the maps are pretty much illegible, but his descriptions of are so clear that I didn't feel the loss, as I have in other Kindled texts (Two Years Before the Mast, for example). BTW: The quality of WWI photos is on a par with the ability of the Kindle to display them.

Meyer is that rare writer who appreciates the tactical and strategic issues in creating a narrative of this size and applies that knowledge admirably. After avoiding this subject for years, because of the confusing and piecemeal introduction that I had to this war, I feel that I have a general understanding of it and enough detailed information to pursue a deeper study of those characters, places and events that changed our world so profoundly.

Gives a clear picture of events leading to, And during, The WWI. The detailes of numbers of soldiers, guns, etc, at each battle are impressive. Though I heard a lot from my father (25 years old at the time of WWI) First time I realized the scale of losses in lives and material and the horror of sending, daily, thousands of humans to death by the few politicians in each country involved.

Overall this book was a fascinating and intriguing survey of the The Great War. There are many topics, individuals and events in this book I thoroughly enjoyed. But, there are two consistent themes that stand out. First, how unnecessary and pointless this war was, especially considering the horrific suffering it created The author describes several missed opportunities that could have prevented the war, if the leadership of the warring nations were not so inflexible, fearful, short-sighted and militaristic. These same viewpoints created an environment that then fomented into WWII. Second, the author highlights the relationship between the various countries cultural/governmental structures their armed forces. For example, in England the military was very influential, yet still subservient to the civilian leadership. In Germany the generals had sway over the Kaiser and certainly the Reichstag. The political structures in England, France and the US survived the war. The ones in Russia, Austro-Hungary, Ottoman Empire and Germany obviously did not.

No question, this account of the Great War was superbly done. Its objective, nonpartisan views are particularly gratifying and it is a treasure trove of a hundred insights about Europe and Germany, the land where I grew up.

I tallied up seven different causes contributing to that nonsensical conflict, some rational, some passionate, some foolish. Among the weapons used, Britain's naval blockade turned out to be the most important and far-reaching. Just think of what it accomplished: By launching a four-year famine among the Central Powers it was not only contributing to their final collapse, but it also triggered the inevitable, retaliatory U-boat blockade, which in turn brought the United States into the war. You might say, the naval blockade was the lynchpin of victory for the Entente. And don't forget the atrocity campaign against the "Huns", against which the Germans were defenseless after the British had cut the German overseas cable. The anti-German hatred of the French was understandable, but not that of the English, whose vengefulness appeared far-fetched and off-the-chart.

The numerous peace initiatives were a conundrum - why did they all fail? The answer, I think, lay in the fact that Germany was being accused of being a most dangerous hegemonic ogre, one possessed by the devil, a notion the Germans viewed with utter surprise. In fact, this book convinced me that this ogre perception was the major rationale for the war in the first place. Germany had become too big too fast.

The overwhelming superiority in manpower, nutrition and materiel of the Allies was documented repeatedly in the book and you wonder how their foes were able to sustain it for as long as four years. The reasons for the United States' entry into the war and the volatile and malleable wisdom of Woodrow Wilson were investigated as well and caused me to ponder.

There are people who believe that the US declaration of war was in fact a tragedy for Europe, for without it the Europeans would have made peace in 1916 - peace without victory, that is. In that case the world would have never heard about Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, WW II, the Holocaust, the Pearl Harbor attack, the A-bomb or the Cold War.

Yes, A World Undone is a source of much reflection and wondering. The author G. J. Meyer deserves utmost praise.

In beginning to read this book, I recalled that it is often said, for literature and history, that a story is as important as it is written, and found G. J. Meyer's A World Undone an excellent example proving this true.

I had previously gone through a number of books covering the First World War, but often found my interest to wane after Moltke the Younger's flawed execution of the Schlieffen Plan, the Battle of the Marne and Tannenberg. In any case, I have found none of those other books as engrossing as this particular book.

The success of this book derives from the author's uninterrupted and smooth interweaving: of the simultaneous development of the war's different fronts (instead of dealing with them separately); of the great strategic vision with the plight of the soldiers; and of the author's historical hindsight with the strategies taken by the respective leaders of the warring nations. Those leader's stubbornness to continue using old-school tactics, even as they were immediately proven outdated upon being executed before them, together with their pride, and their inability or blindness to correctly estimate their enemy's strength, situation and willingness to fight, all add to the tragedy.

In a similar fashion that gives continued, fresh viewpoints for a better appreciation of the conflict, the author alternates each chapter with a related and brief sub-chapter presenting background strengthening each chapter's context, such as brief histories of the Ottoman Empire or the Romanovs; personalities, such as Clemenceau, Lundendorff or Lawrence of Arabia; or general background, such as life on the home front of the warring nations.

An important and additional noteworthy aspect of this book is that it draws attention to the War's most efficient commanders, and cleanly identifies the evolution of the war's tactics through to the point where they became important precursors in 1918 of many Second World War tactics. In doing so, the author gives due credit to the proponents of the same and the operations in which those novel tactics were first applied. Such is the case with Generals Plumer, Currie and Monash. Those efficient commanders and proponents of the new tactics are all too frequently not the lead name's in the War's history, and, as the author points out in his endnotes, in at least one case are often not even mentioned in many other general histories of the War.

For those who may still see the First World War as a static, trench-bound conflict, this dynamic book is a fresh opportunity to get an entirely different vision of this world-transforming conflict.

Meyer uses visceral images to describe the battles from a wide camera angle, but also down in the muddy, chest-high water fill trenches, smelling of thousands of rotting human bodies and feces, and swarmed with rats the size of cats that fed on the dead. Where Hart describes the War from a wide camera angle, Meyer gets close to the action.

Having grown up in the immediate post-WWII era, I had given little thought until recently about the 20th century's first great conflict and decided I should learn a bit more about it. G.J. Meyer's book was the perfect choice for doing so; the wealth of detail, especially his background descriptions of the personalities and cultural factors that contributed to the general unraveling immediately preceding the outbreak of hostilities, was tremendously helpful in understanding what followed. The author's insights into the personal--and national--tragedies caused by the war evoked a very emotional response from this reader and brought to life an event now almost a century old. It also promoted a better understanding of some of today's more intractable international problems, some of the most difficult of which originated in the decisions made at the end of this "war to end all wars". This is a book so full of information and of such high literary quality that I expect to re-read it over and over again. Highly recommended!

Best World War I book ever written on the subject in my opinion. The author did such a complete job of telling the complete story, key players with all their egos, countries involved, and the horrific battles and loss of life of so many soldiers. never really had a good understand of the history leading up to the first shots being fired until this book. Clearly the best WW I history book of the ages.

This book makes the primary causes of the mismanaged debacle that was WW I clear without miring the reader in excessive detail. The author also provides background on the major players and power centers that help the reader to understand why the pre-war optimism was so misplaced. The author's style is easily readable.

I was somewhat ignorant of WW! and wanted to read a detailed book about WW1. This book was perfect as it went into great detail of the details that lead to WW1 the countries that fought along with the details of their politicians, people,and how they fought. If you area history buff you will really enjoy the details of this book.It certainly opened my eyes.

A well-written history of World War I. Every chapter of narrative is followed by a short essay on a specific subject, such as the Hohenzollerns, the Romanovs, weapons, war poetry, etc. At first I thought that these essays might impede the flow of the book, but they don’t. The narrative is clear and flowing and I was sorry to finish this book.

When I realized I knew very little about World War I I looked around and finally purchased this book. This book was very insightful and full of great information. I would recommend this to any history fan.

This is simply a brilliant book. It takes a complex and huge subject, the First World War, and explains the course of the conflict, the causes, characters and incidents in a humane, highly readable and exceptionally concise manner. A single volume history on a defining period in modern history that was riveting.

Brilliant work.

Well investigated and well written to present a factual account of people, politics, situations, battles and results. Interesting reading from start to finish bringing a new presentation to an old subject that makes it come alive once more. An excellent work comparable to the other works done by this author. One of the few whose works I have all read and never been disappointed.

Whew, the epidemic of human slaughter should never be forgotten or dismissed as it happens in war and this book assigns it the rightfull place. Each new weapon or tactic adds to the toll and we need to seriously consider what could happen if the world ever did this again. It is extremely well written and hard to put down. This narrative was a lesson to keep in our collective memories.

WWI is not the easiest war to understand -- not even to the people at the time. The shifting alliances, the static battlefield, and the pointless outcome make it tough to really "get". "A World Undone" corrects that, making sense of every aspect of the Great War. The author uses a mix of chronological and topical to keep things moving even as the battle lines bog down. Extremely well done history, nuanced, balanced, and compelling. Highly recommended.

Very relevant, especially in this date and time. History repeats itself, and I found it very interesting how the events of 1914-1918 mimic the world we find ourselves in currently. Well written with very good analysis of the political situation at that time.

Helped me understand the Great War better than others I have read. Just a few more good books, and I'll get it. Too bad no one at that time period undstood what was going on. But remember, we are ruled by politicians, not sentient, thinking, intelligent humans. We always get what we pay for.

Excellent book. It's a tough and expansive topic to address but Meyer does this in an engaging and interesting way. I also gained great insights from the book on aspects that I'd not heard elsewhere as the author has an interesting way of looking at things. Overall the best book on the great war that I have read.

Well written introduction to all the complexities which led up to the war and the four years of the war itself. Enjoyable to read. Meyer has an excellent writing style. Some histories can be boring and an effort to read (partly because it is the "nature of the beast"). This was not the case here. I found it actually fun to read. I highly recommend it to any who is, like me, a history buff.

WWI occurred between 8/1914 and 11/11//1918 - over 17 million were killed. Almost a century later, the world still is dealing with problems created at the end of WWI - the most obvious being non-stop turmoil in the Middle East. In addition, peace terms imposed on Germany at the end of WWI directly led to WWII.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, along with his wife, were making an official visit to Sarajevo in Bosnia on the morning of June 28, 1914. He was the heir to the Hapsburg crown, she the former lady-in-waiting to an Austrian archduchess. Among the crowds linking the motorcade were six young men intent on killing the archduke - five were Bosnian Serb teenagers, and five had contracted TB. Members of the Black Hand, their ultimate goal was creation of a Greater Serbia that included Bosnia. Some 500 years before on that day Ottoman Turks had vanquished/slaughtered the Serb army - the Turks were not driven out of the Balkans until 1912. The Hapsburgs were now seen as the oppressors. Unfortunately, the archduke's driver turned around less than five feet from one of the six - who took the opportunity to fire twice - killing both the archduke and his wife.

Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm II, upon hearing of the assassination, ended his vacation and headed home, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia declared three weeks of mourning. Little else resulted - at first. Meyer warns readers, however, that the Balkans had been Europe's most unstable region - ill-defined small nations and shifting borders, populated with intermingled ethnic groups filled with hatred of each other and wanting to expand territory. This was where the Eastern (Orthodox) and Western (Christian) Roman Empires had met for almost 2,000 years - more recently, the area also became home to Europe's only indigenous Muslims.

Orthodox Russia wanted Constantinople (would restore the original Orthodox world), and thus appointed themselves as protectors of Slavic and Orthodox populations in the Balkans, Serbs included. After the Turkish empire had receded, it was mainly Britain that kept Russia from seizing the territory - they feared a Russian takeover would threaten their Middle East empire and control of India. The assassinations, along with an arms race, nationalism, imperialism (pursuit of Africa and parts of Asia), militarism, and an alliance system (Russia and Serbia, Germany and Austria-Hungary, France and Russia, Britain and France and Belgium, Japan and Britain) all contributed to the origins of WWI which began a month later with Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against Serbia.

After reading "Guns of August" this book offered a good overview of WW I. It contains sidebars of major players in the numerous feascos that marked this event. If you ever thought that the American Civil War was a slaughter, try to comprehend some of the numbers in this book.

My only concern was that there aren't enough maps for someone with a limited knowledge of French geography. Like me.

A very well written book, well researched. One can understand how many situations from the past 100 years came into being. This war rearranged Europe and others borders causing issues still seen today. Well worth reading.

Meyer's account is excellent for anyone seeking a single volume account of the Great War. The author's style can be dry sometimes but there are moments when Meyer ably brings World War I into stark relief: the account of the initial German attack at Verdun and highlighting Wilfred Owen's searing poem come to mind. A World Undone is overall a solid prelude to further study for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of such a horrific period in (relatively) recent history.

After reading several works that analyze the Great War, it's causes and outcomes, including the massive but amazing The Pity of War, I realized I knew very little of the actual historical narrative. This is a great book that gives a real sense for the events of 1915-1917, the main players - both states and people and of course the major battles on all fronts. Well worth reading.

An excellent, high-level history of the First World War. Meyer does a great job of examining the thinking, decisions and mistakes of the military and political leaders as they struggled to understand war on a scale not seen before with the technology of a new century. At the same time, Meyer gets down in the trenches to provide the reader with an understanding of the hardships and horrors experienced by the men who fought the battles.

Satisfaction and expectation are closely connected. If you are looking for a book that does a great job telling the story of a long and complex war in one book - this is it. I bought it because it was recommended by Dan Carlin on his Hardcore History podcast. I was not disappointed in the least.

Enjoyed the background narrative of the various events and people involved during WW I
Photos of the players lent a face to the characters.
Every time I read about WW I am amazed at the numbers of casualties and how bad the leadership of all of the armies seemed to be.
The war to end all wars was a failure in every way.

Very readable compelling story told in real time. The personalities of most players are detailed and provide insight into why such a sad story was possible. I am left with a strong opinion that millions died for the failures of leaders to act in the best interest of humanity.

This is an excellent book that tells the story of the "Great War" - the war that changed much of the world from what it was to what it is today. The author does a fine job of laying out that story. I especially liked the background sections that provided context behind what led to the events that started this war. More than any other book, this one lays the climactic events of this war and the impact - in Western Europe (the lead to World War II), in Russia (the Cold War), in the Middle East (Israel, Palestine, Iraq), and in Eastern Europe (Balkans). After reading the first chapters, I came to the recognition that August, 1914 was probably the most climactic month in the history of the modern world. The change that it caused is being felt even to today. For this reason alone, I recommend this book not only to history buffs but to all to better understand the reasons why.

I especially appreciate the way the chapters alternate between then-current events and background. The background chapters are short, each covering a relevant point of prewar history, providing important information without slowing down the pace.

Meticulously researched, a World Undone provides incomparable detail, stats, and context that will leave you shaking your head in dismay at the industrial-scale carnage of the First World War. An excellent read & highly recommended.

Meyer makes the story unfold before you eyes. I had a completely new view of many of the main actors in the drama and a different understanding of just what folly was involved on all sides. The treatment of the German personalities was more empathetic than most histories of this period and the conclusion of the book segues right in to the inevitability of the next conflict. My only nit to pick...did he get it right on Rasputin's death? Other accounts of the autopsy don't agree it found drowning as the cause.

This is a comprehensive history of WWI that is truly accessible to EVERYONE! It is written so well and each chapter about the major players includes a history of that person or country so that we can see the evolution of the problem – such as Serbia, a troubled place throughout history and Prussia, which was a major player in this disaster and which was broken up after the War. I have never understood how a Serbian gunman assassinating an Austrian Prince somehow drew the world into the first "Great" war. This book explains all the dynamics very meticulously and understandably and I now get it! I love this book for it's clarity and for reading a lot like a novel rather than a logistical and strategic army marching order. I thank this author, G.J. Meyer for a truly great book about an amazingly unbelievable event that really happened and that took the lives of so many and set the stage for WWII. It is also a fascinating study of stupid and helpless men and royalty, mis-communication, the movement of millions of men and horses around Europe and the general chaos of the migration of great numbers of humans and animals to get to or away from the fronts. Thank you for this book!

What I like about this book are the sections between each chapter that give more background on a specific person, event or situation that is relevant to what you just read in the previous chapter or are about to read in the next. It helps the reader understand more of the background behind many of the events during WWI. The book does a good job of covering the "less" popular fronts, especially the actions involving the armies of Austria-Hungarian empire.

The details are deep enough to give the reader a good understanding without getting lost. Overall, I enjoyed reading this book. It is one of the better "global" overview books on WWI I have read. The insight into the politically focused activities in the various capitals of the primary players in the conflict was an unexpected element of the book. In particular, the back room dealings of the diplomats and government agents in the weeks leading up to August 1st, 1914 are uniquely brought to life in this book.