Matrix Games Forums

As we get ready for the big GOA release, I figured I'd put up a thread whereby we could mention good reads on the subject of WWI.

I'm just about finished with A Wolrd Undone: The Story of the Great War 1914 to 1918. Original contributions to WWI are few and far between but as far as a general history goes, G.J. Meyer has done a pretty good job. Thoroughly enjoying this book. It mentions something I was not aware of. France has sealed its entire government archive on the French Army's mutiny until 2017. Exactly 100 years. When that source is finally opened (I hope I'm still around!) there should be a flood of good books on the sunbject.

I'm going to follow up with a favorite 1-2 punch. The Proud Tower and The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman. The Proud Tower in particular is, IMHO, one of the most unhearalded works of history ever. She paints a picture of the major players in WWI before the war and when compared to any work on post-war Europe in particular, it is truly jarring. One of my all-time favorites and a fantastic read.

Anyone out there with some suggestions?

I read the Guns of August last month in anticipation of release; an excellent book. I also read John Keegan's The First Worl War; another excellent book.

Niall Fergusson: Der flasche Krieg (the wrong war). Several books about the German and Austro-Hungarian fleet.

For further information:

http://www.viribusunitis.ca/history.htm

http://www.naval-history.net/WW1NavyAustrian.htm

A very good book on the military build up/international context (focusing on armies not navies) is David G Herrmann's "The Arming of Europe and the Making of the First World War".

Another thoughtful study is "Germany and the Approach of War in 1914" by V R Berghahn.

On the War itself there is the first volume of Hew Strachan's trilogy "The First World War - Volume 1: To Arms" (the only volume published so far). As with so many detailed historical accounts, it need better maps, those included have full geographic coverage but virtually no battle positions. "A Military Atlas of the First World War" by Arthur Banks helps to remedy this.

Holger H. Herwig - "The First World War: Germany and Austria-Hungary 1914-1918" looks at the Central Powers at war and on the home fronts.

Castles of Steel: Britain, Germany, and the Winning of the Great War at Sea and Dreadnought by Robert K. Massie are both excellent books giving the story of the first arms race and the personalities involved.
Highly recommended if you want to know about Bismark , Fisher , Churchill , The King and the Kaiser.

Mud , Blood and popycock is also good.

We use to play campaign games; a couple of which were on WW1.  So, I did some study to get ready for the next game (that NEVER CAME! AARRGGH!).

I tried to figure out what Germany could do to not fight a two-front war and ended up figuring out how they could win on both fronts! A friend who served in the Artmy as a Captain (doing the work of a Major) said that I'd make a good Prussian general--not sure if he meant that as a compliment tho'!

Bellamy, Chris Red God of War: Soviet Artillery and Rocket Forces. (Brassey’s Defence, 1986)

Bessel, Richard Germany After the First World War. (Clarendon, 1993)

Blumberg, Arnold "Close Air Support in World War 1," Command Issue 16 (May-June 1992): 34-39.

Bucheim, Christoph "Aspects of XIXth century Anglo-German Trade Rivalry Reconsidered," Journal of European Economic History 10 (1981): 273-89.

Burk, Kathleen Britain, America and the Sinews of War, 1914-1918. (George Allen and Unwin, 1985)

Collins, D. N. "The Franco-Russian Alliance and Russian Railways, 1891-1914," The Historical Journal 16:4 (1973): 777-788.

Cross, Wilbur Zeppelins of World War I: The Dramatic Story of Germany’s Lethal Airships. (Paragon, 1991)

David, Daniel The 1914 Campaign: August - October, 1914. (Wieser and Wieser, 1987)

Epkenhams, Michael "Krupp and the Imperial German Navy, 1989-1914: A Reassessment," Journal of Military History 64 (2000): 335-70.

Farwell, Byron The Great War in Africa. (12914-1918) (Norton, 1986)

Ferguson, Niall "How (Not) to Pay for the War: Traditional Finance and "Total" War," Great War, Total War: Combat and Mobilization on the Western Front, 1914-1918. Edited by Roger Chickering and Stig Förster. (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2000): 409-34.

_______ "The Kaiser’s European Union: What if Britain ‘stood aside’ in August 1914?," Virtual History: Alternatives and Counterfactuals. Edited by Niall Ferguson. (Basic Books, 1997)

Feuer, A. B. "The Davis Gun: Aircraft Artillery in World War I," Command (Issue 51) pgs. 6-8.

French, David "The Military Background to the Shells Crisis of May 1915," The Journal of Strategic Studies 2:2 (1979): 192-205.

Gudmundson, Bruce I. "These Hideous Weapons," Military History Quarterly 7:1 (Autumn 1994): 70-3.

Hawkins, William R. "The Man Who Invented Limited War," Military History Quarterly 4:1 (Autumn 1991): 105-9.

Herwig, Holger H. "Total Rhetoric, Limited War: Germany’s U-Boat Campaign, 1917-1918," Great War, Total War: Combat and Mobilization on the Western Front, 1914-1918. Edited by Roger Chickering and Stig Förster. (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2000): 189-206.

_______ "Fisher, Tirpitz, and the Dreadnought," Military History Quarterly 4:1 (Autumn 1991): 96-104.

Hobsbawm, Eric The Age of Empire 1875-1914. (Pantheon, 1987)

Hogg, Ian V. and John Weeks Illustrated Encyclopedia of Military Vehicles. (New Burlington Books, 1980)

Holborn, Hajo "Moltke and Schlieffen: The Prussian-German School," Makers of Modern Strategy: Military Thought from Machiavelli to Hitler. Edited by Edward Mead Earle (Princeton Univ. Press, 1971): 172-205.

Hook, Brian (editor) The Cambridge Encyclopedia of China. (CUP, 1991)

Howard, Michael "Europe 1914," Experience of War. Edited by Robert Crowley (W. W. Norton, 1992)

_______ "British Grand Strategy in World War I," Grand Strategies in War and Peace. Edited by Paul Kennedy (Yale University Press, 1991): 31-41.

Huston, James A. The Sinews of War: Army Logistics 1775-1953. (Office of the Chief of Military History, United States Army, 1966)

Jane’s Fighting Ships of World War 1. (Military Press, 1990 edition)

Jannen, Jr., William The Lions of July: Prelude to War, 1914. (Presidio, 1996)

Joll, James The Origins of the First World War. (Longman, 1984)

Juniper, Dean "The First World War and Radio Development," History Today 54 (2001)

Keegan, John An Illustrated History of The First World War. (Knopf, 2001)

Kennedy, Paul Strategy and Diplomacy 1870-1945. (Fontana, 1983)

_______ "German World Policy and the Alliance Negotiations with England, 1897-1900," Journal of Modern History (1973): 605-25.

Koch, H. W. "The Anglo-German Alliance Negotiation: Missed Opportunity or Myth?" History 54/182 (1969): 378-92.

Lake, Jon The Great Book of Bombers. (MBI Publishing, 2002)

Langer, William L. The Diplomacy of Imperialism: 1890-1902. (Alfred A. Knopf, 1960)

Langhorne, Richard "Anglo-German Negotiations Concerning the Future of the Portuguese Colonies, 1911-1914," The Historical Journal 16/2 (1973): 361-87.

_______ "VII. The Naval Question in Anglo-German Relations, 1912-1914," The Historical Journal 14:2 (1971): 359-370.

Lawson, Eric and Jane "Zeppelin: The First Battle over Britain, 1914-1918," Strategy and Tactics 159 (March 1993): 5-20.

Livesey, Anthony Great Battles of World War I. (Macmillan, 1989)

Lowe, C. J. "VII. Britain and Italian Intervention, 1914-1915," The Historical Journal 12:3 (1969): 533-548.

Luikart, Gordon Augustus The Naval Question and efforts at an Anglo-German Rapprochement: 1908-1912. (Florida Atlantic University, 1983)

Macdonald, Lyn 1914. (Atheneum, 1988)

Macksey, Kenneth The Guinness Book of Tank: Facts and Feats. 3rd Edition. (Guinness Superlatives Limited, 1980)

Massie, Robert K. Dreadnought: Britain, Germany, and the Coming of the Great War. (Random House, 1991)

Morris, Jr., Roy "Nature Herself Murdered," Military History (August 1986): 26-33.

Murray, Williamson "Misreading Mahan," Military History Quarterly 5:2 (Winter 1993): 34-5.

Nash, D. B. Imperial German Army Handbook 1914-1918. (Ian Allan, 1980)

Neilson, Keith "Watching the ‘Steamroller’: British Observers and the Russian Army before 1914," Journal of Strategic Studies 8 (1985): 199-217.

Pakenham, Thomas The Scramble for Africa: The White Man’s Conquest of the Dark Continent from 1876 to 1912. (Random, 1991)

Prendegast, Curtin The First Aviators. (Time-Life Books, 1981)

Pollard, Sidney "British and World Shipbuilding, 1890-1914: A Study in Comparative Costs," Journal of Economic History 17 (1957): 426-44.

Porch, Douglas "Artois, 1915" Military History Quarterly 5:3 (Spring 1993): 42-51.

Robinson, Douglas H. The Zeppelin in Combat: A History of the German Naval Airship Division, 1912-1918. (G. T. Foulis and Co., 1966)

Saunders, Anthony Weapons of the Trench War 1914-1918. (Sutton Publishing, 1999)

Scarlata, Paul S. "Austria’s M07 Roth-Steyr was the World’s first Successful Semiautomatic Military Pistol," Military History 17 (2000): 70.

Schroeder, Paul W. "World War I as Galloping Gertie: A Reply to Joachim Remak," Journal of Modern History 44 (1972): 319-45.

Schueler, David "TANK!, The Development of Armored Fighting Vehicles in World War I," Command Issue 15 (Mar-Apr 1992): 67-79.

Scheler, Jeffery L. Is the Bible True? (Zondervan, 1999)

Shepperd, G. A. A History of War and Weapons 1660 to 1918. (Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1971)

Showalter, Dennis "From Deterrence to Doomsday Machine: The German Way of War, 1890-1914," Journal of Military History 64 (2000): 679-710.

_______ Tannenberg: Clash of Empires. (Archon, 1991)

_______ "The Eastern Front and German Military Planning, 1871-1914 - Some Observations," East European Quarterly 15:2 (June 1981): 163-180.

Snyder, Jack The Ideology of the Offensive: Military Decision Making and the Disasters of 1914. (Cornell Univ. Press, 1984)

Stevenson, David Armaments and the Coming of War: Europe, 1904-1914. (Clarendon, 1996)

Stone, Norman "Austria-Hungary," Knowing One’s Enemies: Intelligence Assessment Before the Two World Wars. Edited by Ernest R. May (Princeton Univ., 1984): 37-61.

Sumida, Jon Tetsuro "British Capital Ship Design and Fire Control in the Dreadnought Era: Sir John Fisher, Arthur Hungerford Pollen, and the Battle Cruiser," Journal of Modern History 51 (June 1979): 205-230.

Taylor, A. J. P. The Struggle for the Mastery in Europe 1848-1918. (Oxford Univ., 1971 paperback edition)

Towle, P. "The European Balance of Power in 1914," The Army Quarterly and Defence Journal 104:3 (1974): 333-42.

Travers, T. H. E. "Technology, Tactics, and Morale: Jean de Bloch, the Boer War, and British Military Theory, 1900-1914," The Journal of Modern History (1979): 264-86.

Trebilock, Clive, " "Spin-Off" in British Economic History: Armaments and Industry, 1760-1914," Economic History Review 26 (1973)?: 474-90.

Trumpener, Ulrich "War Premeditated? German Intelligence Operations in July 1914," Central European History 9/1 (1976): 58-85.

______ "The Road to Ypres" The Beginnings of Gas Warfare in World War I," The Journal of Modern History 47:3 (1975): 460-80.

Tuchman, Barbara W. The Proud Tower: A Portrait of the World Before the War 1890-1914. (Macmillan, 1966)

______ The Guns of August. (Bantam, 1962)

Turner, L. C. F. "The Significance of the Schlieffen Plan," The Australian Journal of Politics and History 13 (1967): 47-66.

van Crevald, Martin The Art of War: War and Military Thought. (Cassell and Co., 2000)

Westwood, J. N. Russia Against Japan, 1904-05: A New Look at the Russo-Japanese War. (State University of New York Press, n.d.)

Williamson, Jr., Samuel R. The Politics of Grand Strategy: Britain and France Prepare for War, 1904-1914. (Harvard, 1969)

Willmott, H. P. World War I. (DK, 2003)

Wilson, Stephen "The Antisemitic Riots of 1898 in France," The Historical Journal 16:4 (1973): 789-806.

Wilson, Trevor The Myriad Faces of War: Britain and the Great War, 1914-1918. (Polity, 1986)

Winter, Jay and Baggett, Blaine The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century. (Penguin, 1996)

SOURCES TO GET

K. Neilson, "Watching the "Steamroller": British Observers and the Russian Army before 1914," Journal of Strategic Studies 8 (1975): 199-217.

W. C. Fuller, Civil-Military Conflict in Imperial Russia, 1881-1914 (Princeton, 1985)

P. F. Sugar The Industrialization of Bosnia-Herzegovina, 1878-1918 (Seattle, 1963)

J. Steinberg Yesterday’s Deterrent: Tirpitz and the Birth of the German Battle Fleet (NY, 1965)

_______ "The Copenhagen Complex," Journal of Contemporary History 1/3 (1966): 23-41.

_______ "The Novelle of 1908: Necessities and Choices in the Anglo-German Naval Arms Race," Transactions of the Royal Historical Society 5/21 (1971): 25-43.

H. H. Herwig, "The German Reaction to the Dreadnought Revolution," International History Review 13 (1991): 272-83.

I. N. Lambi The Navy and German Power Politics, 1862-1914 (Boston, 1984)

J. T. Sumida In Defence of Naval Supremacy ... (1989)

R. Williams Defending the Empire (1991)

H. Weinroth "Left-Wing Opposition to Naval Armaments in Britain before 1914," Journal of Contemporary History 6 (1971): 110-8.

A. J. A. Morris The Scaremongers: The Advocacy of War and Rearmament, 1896-1914 (1984)

**John Morrow The Great War in the Air: Military Aviation from 1909 to 1921. (1993)

Keith Neilson The Anglo-Russian Alliance, 1914-17.

Arthur J. Marder The Anatomy of British Sea Power: A Study of British Naval Policy in the Pre-Dreadnought Era, 1880-1905 (NY, 1940)

George Aston "The Entente Cordiale and the ‘Military Conversations,’" Quarterly Review 258 (April 1932)

J. D. Hargreaves "The Origin of the Anglo-French Military Conversations in 1905," History 36 (Oct. 1951)

Ulrich Trumpener "War Premeditated? German Intelligence Operations in July 1914," Central European History 9:1 (Mar. 1976): 58-85.

Paul Kennedy "Tirpitz, England and the Second Navy Law of 1900: A Strategical Critique," Militargeschichliche Mitteilungen 8 (1971)

Eckart Kehr Battleship Building and Party Politics in Germany, 1894-1901. (Univ. Of Chicago, 1975)
Escape into War? (Edited by Schollgen) (Oxford, 1990)

British Foreign Policy. (edited by Hinsley) D. W. Sweet, "Great Britain and Germany, 1905-1911" War Aims and Strategic Policy in the Great War. (edited by A. Preston) (1977)

N. Ferguson, "Germany and the Origins of the First World War: New Perspectives," Historical Journal 35/3 (1992)

D. E. Kaiser, "Germany and the Origins of the First World War," Journal of Modern History 55 (1983)

The Guinness Book of Tanks.

[center]TO BUY[/center][center] [/center]Paul Kennedy The Rise of the Anglo-German Antagonism 1860-1914.

CHECK ON:

Somewhat in line with what Maj. B. F. S. Baden-Powell thought (War in Practice. (1903)) -- see Travers, 271.

Immanuel Geiss The Long Road to Catastrophe: The Prehistory of the First World War 1815-1914.

Though it is rather daunting having to follow the above list (which is unbelieveably thorough), John Keegan's "First World War" was an excellent read in my opinion. The first book I remember reading as a young man about the great war was the slim, but well written "A History of the First World War" by A.J.P. Taylor. As mentioned, Babara Tuchman's "The Guns of August" is really a classic, even today when words like classic are thrown around far too often.

>Though it is rather daunting having to follow the above list (which is unbelieveably thorough)
 
Thanks for the compliment!  I'm just the type that just has to know and I'm willing to dig to get the info I need/want.  But, I'm also sure that others know of sources I haven't seen yet!

No problem, outside of universities, war games sites might be one of the few places where people actually read and pass on valuable information, regarding BOOKS. Great list!

dconkin, nice list!

My WWI collection consists of:

Keegan's First World War
Tuchman's Guns of August
Massie's Castles of Steel and Dreadnought
Halpern's A Naval History of World War I
Steel and Hart Jutland 1916
Lidell Hart The Real War 1914-1918

Anyone read any of Hew Strachan's series of WWI books? I would like to eventually get those as well as the Showalter Tannenberg book
listed by dconklin, and Sweetman's Tannenberg 1914

Edit: Oops, I forgot to add the I have Sidney Fay's 2 volume set The Origins of the World War. After reading these books, Allan Calhamer designed the game Diplomacy.

ORIGINAL: Marcus the leper

Though it is rather daunting having to follow the above list (which is unbelieveably thorough), John Keegan's "First World War" was an excellent read in my opinion. The first book I remember reading as a young man about the great war was the slim, but well written "A History of the First World War" by A.J.P. Taylor. As mentioned, Babara Tuchman's "The Guns of August" is really a classic, even today when words like classic are thrown around far too often.

To bring this topic back to the front, Keegan's book on WWI I find to be overly wordy. Keegan's style is just plain cumbersome, and his diction feels forced. With plenty of better written books on WWI, reading Keegan's book is like entering a pathless forest during the dead of winter.

Alan

I just obtained a couple of 1920's era books from a series "The Social and Economic History of the World War", published by Yale University.  It's a series of over 100 works on various aspects of individual countries - there's a British Series within it, a German Series, a Russian series, etc.  most of the European countries have their series in their own language alas - I'm only an English speaker   (But the Russian series in in English and many of the minor states series are in French)

Individual volumes are occasionally available through 2nd hand book services such as Abe books or amazon. some are fairly cheap - US$20 or so - but the Turkish one will set you back a minimum of US$300 at the meoment...[X(]

anyway - the 2 I recently obtained were Russia and the Economic War, and Russian Public Finances.  both are fascinating insights into those 2 rather obscure topics & I suspect many of the other titles would be similarly deep and meaningful.

A list of the titles published is at http://www.bunsei.co.jp/kosho/shotwel.htm

Although some books have already been mentioned by others, here a list of books I've read:

I recently finished Barbara Tuchmans "The guns of August" and I really liked it. It seems to cover a lot of the essential facts and even mentions some side aspects (like the British blockade and the conflict with the USA about that). It's very well written and a good read. But why is there no chapter about the early Serbian campaign? There is a chapter about the escape of the Goeben, but none about Belgrade?

Before that I read Robert K. Massies "Castles of Steel" - another fine read. Sometimes he is telling a little too much about the commanders and a lot of gossip, but the coverage of the British-German naval battles was very good. Again, it's not covering all aspects of WWI naval warfare but only the German-British campaigns.

Michael Jürgs "Der kleine Frieden im Großen Krieg" is a quite new German book about the Christmas truce.

Wolfgang J. Mommsen "Der Erste Weltkrieg - Anfang und Ende vom bürgerlichen Zeitalter" - a collection of articles about various WWI topics. The quality of the articles varies, some repeat things that were said in other essays etc.. but some are really good!

I'm a bit meh about John Keegans "The First World War" because on the one hand it is a good history of pretty much all of WWI warfare, on the other hand it has some parts that really make my guts cringe! Whenever British troops are fighting his descriptions become too narrative and too colourful and patriotic. It's been a while since I read it, but when he tells about the first Clash of British and German troops near Mons he actually tells details about where a machine gun was and there was a bridge etc.. Ok, he is British and I can accept his patriotism, but that doesn't turn those paragraphs into good history.

Hew Strachans "The First World War, Volume I, To Arms" is supposed to be the first of a three volume work, intended to deliver some comprehensive view of the war, including political, financial, economical aspects. The first Volume has something like 1200 pages and there is more to come. It's extremely good, but quite academic and you won't read it for the joy of reading. There are barely any usable maps and following the battle descriptions becomes a pain in the butt. I guess it will become one of the academic references when it's finished. I got my copy for very few bucks (there was a sale at the Imperial War Museum), and hope to be able to pick up the forthcoming volumes too. There are smaller books of Strachan dealing with the war, I think one is covering the entire war and some chapters of this major volume will also be published in separate books.

Niall Fergusons "The Pity of war" is intended to be a controversial book, and it succeeds. He is questioning a lot of common sense things about the origins of war, how the powers were able to keep up the fighting and why they collapsed. Some of his views are intriguing some are irritating. He also mentions the idea that Britain should not have joined the war and stayed out of the conflict, finding a way to co-exist with the German Empire that would have won the war. He says that Europe after a German victory would have almost been like it is now, with Germany dominating the European Union (now that's a very British view!) but Britain would have been able to keep his Empire that got lost after the two World Wars. Also a winning Germany would never have produced Hitler and all the pity he brought. Now the last idea is intriguing, but some of the factual and contra-factual assumptions Ferguson makes are nonsense. The merit of this book is that it will open your eyes and offers some alternative views, even if you don't agree with the author.

Manfried Rauchensteiner "Der Tod des Doppeladlers" - thats the one book you need to read about Austro-Hungary and the Great War. I don't think there is a English translation of it, but its definitely worth reading!

So yeah that's it, I read some more but those are the ones I have here, or can remember. I could go into details about Austro-Hungarian war aims though... but probably nobody is interested in this.

Hew Strachans "The First World War, Volume I, To Arms" is supposed to be the first of a three volume work, intended to deliver some comprehensive view of the war, including political, financial, economical aspects. The first Volume has something like 1200 pages and there is more to come. It's extremely good, but quite academic and you won't read it for the joy of reading. 

 
I'll have to disagree with the last part of this.  Unlike Keegan's turgid prose, Strachans' is fluid and clear.  I find the read quite enjoyable, problably one of the best and most thorough book I've read on WWI. 
 
 

There are barely any usable maps and following the battle descriptions becomes a pain in the butt. I guess it will become one of the academic references when it's finished.

 
The maps I think are good, but you are correct when you say that the maps have no troop dispositions and movements.  For me that's not that big of a deal.
 
One book that I was completely disappointed by was Martin Gilbert's The First World War: A Complete History.  This is not a history at all but more a compilation of the atrocities of the war.  Every paragraph or theme devolves into a cataloging of how many people were killed and the manner.  I was excited about reading Gilbert's book; but as I began to read it I recalled way back when I read Gilbert's book on WWII.  It was the same thing: a catalogue of killings.  How he can call his WWI book a complete history is baffling and disappointing. 
 
Alan

Agreed on Martin Gilbert....he's a bit disappointing.

I don't have the precise title, but I have a group of books (produced by the US Army) that pay pretty exhaustive detail to the War -- I'll check when I get home. They were done in the 20s and 30s and are: A) beautifully bound (each like a copy of the Treaty of Versailles); B) written from various nations points of view (the authors are from all nations that fought). Overall, very good.

I love Massie and Tuchman as well. Tuchman in particular writes in a style that is thoroughly enjoyable.

AJP Taylor's First World War has some good pictures with some great captions ('Sir John French in training for the retreat from Mons' being a classic) and is a decent short history. His War by Timetable gives a good slant on the outbreak.

Just reading 1914-1918: The History of the First World War by David Stevenson ...a good book but I was wondering what you would all suggest for a good "coffee table" book i.e. plenty of maps and photos the sort of book you can just flick through when you have a few minutes.
Thanks to dconklin for the list it has the capacity to keep me happy for many years to come. I have copied to my hard drive for future ref.