Good popular history of World War I?

[RandMcnally]

@Sefton

I enjoyed A World Undone by G.J. Meyer, but keep in mind that WWI is deeply complex from any perspective. The number of battles, generals, and heads of state involved is mind-boggling.

That’s the one that I came in here to suggest.

[carnivorousplant]

Another vote for Tuchman and Massie.

[Sir_T-Cups]

I came in to suggest Hardcore History.

The only caveat on this is after combining all of the podcasts its a 16 hour long audio book…and counting

[APB]

@Simplicio

The Sleepwalkers by Clark covers the same topic, is more recent, and is something of a counter-point to Tuchman.

His scholarship is probably better and certainly more up to date, though it isn’t as readable as Tuchman. (the two things are probably somewhat related, Clark really digs into what a complicated clusterfuck the pre-war diplomatic situation was, which makes for a more accurate but harder to follow narrative.)

I was amused by Niall Ferguson’s bitchy comparison of the two of them - “The most readable account of the origins of the First World War since Barbara Tuchman’s The Guns of August. The difference is that The Sleepwalkers is a lovingly researched work of the highest scholarship.”

[LawMonkey]

@Boyo_Jim

The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman is an excellent book on the very first month of the war.

The only trouble w/ the Guns of August is that, from a narrative perspective, it’s a bit of a teaser–it stops just when things are getting really interesting! Which is what led me to…

@Nonsuch

Another vote for The World Undone. I came to the book as a newbie on the subject and I couldn’t imagine a more well-rounded introduction to the subject.

…this one, which I also heartily recommend. It focuses on the two major theatres (Western and Eastern fronts), with a little bit about Gallipoli and Italy here and there; this is basically a decision required to keep the thing manageable, and makes sense–the various other theatres in Africa, the Middle East, Asia were side-shows and had little, if any impact on the war. There are plenty of books on those if you want them.

You may, after finishing this, want to go on to read a book about the sequel (WWII), or get into the treaty negotiations, for which I recommend Paris 1919.

[Ryan_Liam]

The First World War (Twentieth Century Wars, 11): Groot, Gerard De:...

This one is excellent.

[Qin_Shi_Huangdi]

First World War by John Keegan

[Askance]

I would say the second book you ought to read on the topic is Cataclysm: The First World War as Political Tragedy by David Stevenson. Not only does it go through the lead up to war, but answers the question “why did both sides continue it for so long, so pointlessly?”.