Genre: Nonfiction--History
Completed: 21 May 2019
Summary & Review:
The First World War led to a complete upheaval across the European continent and caused a ripple that would affect the remainder of the Twentieth Century. With such far-reaching effects, one wonders why the war started in the first place. Historian Paul Ham looks at the year before the start of the war and examines the tangle of alliances, fears, egos, and rivalries that precipitated the devastating catastrophe.
Over the past few years I have become much more interested in the First World War. Growing up I was always more into WWII, but as I've read more history and learned more about both conflicts, the Great War seems more important and tragic. Without it, WWII likely never would have happened.
As for Ham's book, it was okay. I liked his style--he was a clear, lucid writer. However, he repeatedly took digs at "traditional values", e.g. respecting God, King, Country, but to me, those values are virtues, not vices. Also, at the very end of the book--literally the last paragraph--he crowbars in a theory that the war was fought to suppress social and political reform despite offering little to no evidence throughout the rest of the book that that was the case. Granted, the book was short, but he still presented no evidence for this last minute assertion.
I did appreciate that Ham did not pile on with the "It's all Germany's fault" line that is often put forward. He took a cool, rational look at Germany's motivations and offered a fair critique of both them and the Franco-Russian and British alliance.
Rating: 5.5
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