# Need to get edjamacated 'bout WWI **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 30, 2002, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-to-get-edjamacated-bout-wwi/111588 "2002-05-30T18:31:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2002, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-to-get-edjamacated-bout-wwi/111588/1 "2002-05-30T18:31:48Z")
Yet another in along series of attempts to Redress Apalling Gaps in Podkayne’s Education. . . Can anyone recommend a good book about World War I? Remember, Podkayne has the Attention Span of a Gnat, so if it’s non-fiction, it had better be pretty snappy, and historical fiction or classic literature or a memoir is probably best. There isn’t going to be a pop quiz or anything, just trying to do a little research for an RPG, and I want a little more depth of background than I currently have. _Cryptonomicon_ did wonders for my knoweldge of, and interest in, the events of WWII, so I’m hoping that there’s a good book out there to give me a similar kick in the pants for WWI. I am particularly interested in the effects of the war on Eastern Europe. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2002, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-to-get-edjamacated-bout-wwi/111588/2 "2002-05-30T18:40:14Z")
Barbara Tuchman. Guns of August. Only covers the first month, but does a great job. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2002, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-to-get-edjamacated-bout-wwi/111588/3 "2002-05-30T18:55:54Z")
“All Quiet On The Western Front” by Erich M. Remarque follows the WW1 experience of a young German soldier. This book was banned and burned by the Nazis in the pre-WW2 years. You shouldn’t be bothered with attention span; this one will hold your attention. Enjoy. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2002, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-to-get-edjamacated-bout-wwi/111588/4 "2002-05-30T19:05:36Z")
**PBS** had a documentary series entitled (IIRC) The Great War. Not a great series, but a good one at least. Perhaps video would be suited to your short attention span. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2002, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-to-get-edjamacated-bout-wwi/111588/5 "2002-05-30T19:07:20Z")
good on ya, mate! knowledge ain’t a bad thing! i seem to recall a real nice website about the “Great War” at [pbs.org](http://pbs.org). if you have a real short attention span, but want some good stuff, try this: find an old copy of a flight simulator software called “Red Baron”. it came with a book that gave the basics, with lots of nice pictures and exciting storys and excerpts from memiors. No chapter more than a page or two, and should make quick, fun reading. or, charlie brown comics, the ones where snoopy thinks he is a flying officer! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2002, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-to-get-edjamacated-bout-wwi/111588/6 "2002-05-30T19:09:38Z")
I found Martin Gilbert’s _The First World War: A Complete History_ (1994) to be an excellent (and excellently written) overview. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2002, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-to-get-edjamacated-bout-wwi/111588/7 "2002-05-30T19:18:00Z")
I like **Eve** ’s answer. Don’t worry about the war not making sense to you – it didn’t! ---
**Author:** ![buckyogi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f17d59/32.png) [@buckyogi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buckyogi)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2002, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-to-get-edjamacated-bout-wwi/111588/8 "2002-05-30T20:43:30Z")
_A Short History of World War I_ by James L. Stokesbury. Pros: short, interesting, easy to read. Cons: focuses mainly on military aspects, less on political and social aspects. _The World War One Source Book_ by Philip J. Haythornthwaite. Pros: Short chapters on specific topics of the war, so you can pick and choose; lots of pictures. Cons: can be difficult to read at times. Also try [Trenches on the Web](http://www.worldwar1.com/). ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2002, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-to-get-edjamacated-bout-wwi/111588/9 "2002-05-31T01:21:44Z")
I’d also recommend _Nicholas and Alexandra_ and _Dreadnought_, by Robert Massie. They both involve a lot of buildup and causes to the war, and _Nicholas and Alexandra_ would be very relevant to the war in the east. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2002, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-to-get-edjamacated-bout-wwi/111588/10 "2002-05-31T01:52:14Z")
Getting beyond the Boom-Booms, I highly recommend Paul Fussell’s 1975 **The Great War and Modern Memory** , which not only covers the War but looks into its effects on society and art and literature. Fascinating reading, and it won a boatload of awards. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2002, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-to-get-edjamacated-bout-wwi/111588/11 "2002-05-31T13:20:21Z")
John Keegan’s _The First World War_ is a terrific one-volume account. Even then, you won’t understand it. It’s one of the most bafflingly illogical events in human history. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2002, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-to-get-edjamacated-bout-wwi/111588/12 "2002-05-31T13:28:51Z")
I just have to leap in here with a “me too” on the Fussell book. Fascinating! ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2002, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-to-get-edjamacated-bout-wwi/111588/13 "2002-05-31T13:31:02Z")
Oh, I nearly forgot Vera Brittain’s memoirs, _Testament of Youth_. She was a nurse in the war, and this gives a wonderful woman’s point of view. It was published in the 1930s, but has been reissued several times since then and shouldn’t he hard to find. Don’t confuse it with her other two vols. of memoirs, though! ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2002, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-to-get-edjamacated-bout-wwi/111588/14 "2002-05-31T13:57:12Z")
Thank you all! Almost an embarassment of riches. I’m off to the library! ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2002, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-to-get-edjamacated-bout-wwi/111588/15 "2002-05-31T15:59:51Z")
You also should read Alaistair Horne’s _The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916_. Though it’s only about one battle (though “only a battle” hardly applies to Verdun), it’s a fascinating account, and does give a great deal of background on the war.