It’s a very complex and sophisticated book. Are there any take-homes or generalizations we can make after reading it? While this book provides the reader with a clear account of the shifting debates surrounding the origins of the war, it is a book infused with Fischer’s ideas (and the work of later academics in the Fischer mould such as John Röhl). This is the second level on which one can approach this book. The notion that Germany, in some measure, was responsible for the war provides a parallel pathway of study in The Origins of the First World War: Controversies and Consensus. The focus on Germany helps raises this study from an undergraduate text in which the author simply presents the different points of view. Mombauer has a point to prove. Unlike Langdon, who is happy to lay out the arguments, Mombauer has an argument. She argues that Fischer was basically right and German attempts to write her guilt out of the history books should be recognised for what they are. This approach gives the book a passionate feel that makes for a good read and provides a clear line of argument through the book , which leaves the reader with a knowledge not just of all the perspectives surrounding the war’s origins but also of the key role Germany plays in any understanding of why war erupted in August 1914. Providing an excellent entry point into the labyrinth of debates on the origins of the Great War, this book will surely become a core text for students looking for a platform from which they can delve further into this historiographical minefield. Notes I think one of the reasons that World War One resonates so particularly with me, is that I really identified with the British Edwardian schoolboys who had grown up with the feeling that the institutions they were growing up within were secure and safe, and would never change. There’s this quote I want to read you, from the journalist Charles Edward Montague:

We can well understand why Hitler found it so hard to believe that it was conclusive and resorted to conspiracy theories soon.

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So there’s this conflict between them in their friendship, where they completely disagree about what this war means for their future. The rest of the school agrees with Ellwood. They’re very excited when this war breaks out.

Keegan’s war is not a grand Good vs Evil, or a Defense of Democracy/Civilization, or whatever else.His description of the Italian retreat from Caporetto was so accurate that A Farewell to Arms was banned in Fascist Italy shortly after publication in 1929. Parts of Good-bye to All That were questioned and challenged by Graves’s contemporaries, including Siegfried Sassoon. Graves and Sassoon were good friends, and both had suffered psychological and physical trauma from their time in the trenches. It was first published in 1962 and its reputation has increased since then. Tuchman threw herself into research, covering the events leading up to the war and its first month, weaving a compelling narrative on how the war began. It’s an essential read for all Great War and military history enthusiasts. Best books on the causes of WW1 One shouldn't read compact one volume surveys of epic events. It is safe to assume that The First World War meets the criteria of epic event. Any single volume will only distort and compact events. This was no exception Perhaps that brings us to All Quiet on the Western Front. This is a largely autobiographical novel by Erich Maria Remarque, published in 1929. It was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1931, and—not unrelated—was burned by brownshirts in Nazi Germany. The original movie adaptation in 1930 was also hugely popular, and a new big-budget adaptation was released by Netflix in 2022.