Skip to main content
  Log In
Menu
Displaying 1 of 1
World War I
Book
1997
Google Books Preview
Add to My List  
Availability
Large Cover Image
Trade Reviews
Booklist Review
As we approach the end of the twentieth century, a wave of new publications is appearing that attempt to analyze and place in the appropriate perspective the changes, developments, and current trends of this century. This volume is offered by Greenwood as part of its series Guides to Historic Events of the Twentieth Century, which focuses on what are seen in retrospect as defining moments in world history during the last 100 years. Other volumes include The Persian Gulf Crisis (1997), Frontiers of Space Exploration (1998), and The Holocaust (1998). European history scholar Neil M. Heyman has authored an informative and very readable reference source similar to his Biographical Dictionary of World War I (Greenwood, 1982) but with some significant changes. Following the series foreword, the introduction by the author, a chronology of events covering 1914^-21, and a clearly organized map showing the sequential changes in European frontiers from 1919 to 1937, are seven chapters that move from a historic overview to an examination of various aspects of the military, social, and political developments surrounding the war, concentrating primarily on the European theater but including to a lesser degree the American involvement. The final chapter gives a contemporary viewpoint and discusses how the events that occurred so early in the century have continued to affect modern-day life, drawing a link, for example, between the disastrous weapons used during the war and the chemical and biological attacks launched in recent years. Each chapter is well documented. There are 21 biographies of major international figures who played an important role, all of whom appeared in the previous dictionary. However, the material has been revised when relevant. Among them are George Clemenceau, who was the premier of France during the waning months of the war and who played an important role at Versailles; Lenin, at an important stage in his Marxist struggle; John Pershing, the American Expeditionary Force commander; and Gavrilo Princip, the teenage assassin of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. A new and interesting feature of this volume is the inclusion of primary-source documents such as speeches, letters, newspaper columns, and personal diaries. These documents are rich in details of the impact on a war-torn continent of a conflict that presaged tumultuous changes there and on the rest of the world in the following decades. Historians and students will find these accounts very interesting. Combined with the annotated bibliography of print sources and films (with one CDROM) which follows, this is a valuable source of information. While not an in-depth study of World War I, this work provides a wellrounded perspective and is intended for secondary-school and college-student research. It is recommended for public, secondary-school, and community-college libraries.
Summary

Designed for secondary school and college student research, this book is a readable analysis and ready-reference guide to the war. An introductory essay presents a lucid overview of the main features of the conflict, incorporating the most recent scholarship. Five essays analyze crucial aspects of the war, from the battlefield to the homefront, and a concluding essay assesses the consequences of the war from a contemporary perspective. Ready-reference features include: a chronology of events; lengthy biographical profiles of twenty-one major figures, stressing their role in the war's origins, conduct, or outcome; the text of fifteen key primary documents such as diaries, memoirs, and newspaper editorials; a glossary of selected terms; and an extensively annotated bibliography of recommended further reading and major documentary and feature films made about the war.

The essays are designed to be readable and informative, capturing the tragic character of the war as well as presenting an analysis of its main features. Topics covered include the American role in the war, the collapse of the political systems in Russia and Austria-Hungary, the success of Allied military leaders in meeting the threat of German submarine warfare, and life on the homefront in the United States, Britain, France, and Germany. A concluding essay views the war as a shaping force for the entire twentieth century and its impact on the present day. The book presents the day-to-day course of events as it involved individuals by offering excerpts from diaries and memoirs, while decision-making at the highest level appears in selections from leaders' speeches and memoranda. Shifts in public opinion in the United States are illustrated by excerpts from newspaper editorials. A selection of maps completes the text. By raising issues for discussion about The War to End All Wars and providing reference features, this work is a one-stop resource for students, teachers, and library media specialists.

Table of Contents
Series Foreword    Randall M. Miller
Introduction
Chronology of Events World War I Explained
Overview of the War
Anatomy of Catastrophe
Anatomy of Success
The United States in World War I
The Homefront War and the Collapse of the Old Order
Consequences of the War
A Contemporary Perspective Biographies
The Personalities Behind the War
Primary Documents of the War
Glossary of Selected Terms Annotated
Bibliography
Index
Librarian's View
Syndetics Unbound
Displaying 1 of 1