[RMQ]≫ Read World War One A Short History Norman Stone 9780141031569 Books

World War One A Short History Norman Stone 9780141031569 Books

Download As PDF : World War One A Short History Norman Stone 9780141031569 Books

World War One A Short History Norman Stone 9780141031569 Books

World War I killed eleven million combatants; twenty million civilians and served as the beginning of the horrible "thirty year's war" period which ended only with Hiroshima and the fall of Germany in the final apocalypse of World War II. The twentieth century is the bloodiest century in recorded human history. It all began with the military industrialists of the pre-1914 era who engaged (on a massive scale) in colony acquisitions and the construction of huge naval fleets.
Norman Stone's formidable task was to tell the sanguinary tale of the Great War in less than 200 pages. He does so by giving the general reader a good idea of what happened in each of the war's years-1914-1918. For a more complete history the student of the war should turn to the large histories of the conflict authored by such giants as Hew Weldon, John Keegan, Niall Ferguson and others. This little book is "just getting your feet wet" with the fascinating subject under study.
As one who is widely read in World War I history, I will use this book frequently for the quotations the author provides which cuts the verbiage and strikes paydirt in describing a person, battle or situation in the war.
Among the best quotes I marked were these:
With the Ukraine, Russia is a USA;without she is Canada...-p. 6
In four years the world went from 1870 to 1940-p. 35 (Stone is discussing advances in military technology-the war saw the first use of tanks, planes, radio communication and heavy cannon such as the German's Big Bertha).
On the whole the Germans were better prepared-p. 40
...the Germans had done well...mainly because the blockade had given them the will and the way for a proper war economy...-p. 74
Not many of the commanders were at all bright, and some were downright dim.-p. 77
Verdun...broke the French army...When she did fall in 1940 this was partly because her people did not want to go through Verdun again.-pp. 96-97
Tanks developed a certain mythology but they had their limits-p.105
Great wars develop a momentum of their own.-p. 117
Arthur Zimmerman's telegram was Germany's suicide note, written in farce-p. 125 (German foreign secretary Zimmerman sought to entice Mexico to declare war on the USA; in return they would be rewarded with territory seized by the Yankees in the Mexican War).
There were now thousands of guns and millions of shells-p. 126
Lenin had an extraordinary powerful character... His charisma does not show up in his writings, which are unreadable...it is difficult to see how Russians could be held captive by his oratory.-p. 135
The way was open for a second World War even more terrible than the First.-p. 190
Stone does not limit himself to discussions of battle and trench warfare on the Western Front. He briefly comments on battles between the Austrians and the Russians and Italians. As a scholar living in Turkey he discusses the Gallipoli Campaign and how Turkey was an important player in the war.
If you have a long afternoon ahead of you on a plane or a want to spend a quiet afternoon at home with a good book then this one is for you!


Tags : World War One: A Short History [Norman Stone] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Unusual book,Norman Stone,World War One: A Short History,Penguin Books,0141031565,British & Irish history: First World War,European history: First World War,History - Military War,Military - World War I,World history: First World War

World War One A Short History Norman Stone 9780141031569 Books Reviews

To make the events that resulted in and from the complexities of World War One comprehensible is a remarkable accomplishment. Stone puts the governmental, military and business shortsightedness, hubris, greed and nationalist sensibilities on display, delineating the ideologies whose clash resulted in millions of deaths while only truly succeeding in setting the stage for millions more to die in World War Two and beyond.

Within the first chapter alone, the "strategic thinking" invented to induce WWI displays frightful symmetries with the "necessities" invented to impel forward more recent conflicts like those in Vietnam and Iraq. For that reason alone -- the persistence of various governments to resort to false justifications -- it is frankly painful and disheartening to read as a witness to so much contemporary belligerence, nearly 100 years later.

Also painful and obvious is the fact that the actions which decided the first World War continue to resonate today -- from Iraq through the Balkan states and beyond -- and proves the point that we seem still compelled to repeat these patterns, perhaps because too many people today operate under the notion that history began with their own birth.

So exceptional thanks to Norman Stone for reducing the excuses one might have for being ignorant of these events and their effect. His writing is fast-paced, saturated with facts and presented with an eye towards those tiny details and ironic congruences that often seem so unlikely and just as often set the most terrifying wheels in motion. While there are many more comprehensive works and the subject, it's hard to think many could be more comprehensible to the lay reader.
When you put this book down - and it doesn't take all that long to read the 190 pages of it - one is left with two opinions - or at least I was. First, that you have read a very readable, authoritative and concise history of this horrible and unnecessary conflict; and, Second, that you need some time to consider what it all meant in the long run - the rise of two dictatorial and militant states (Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia) a second even more terrible war, the end of France as a controlling European power, the end of war "as we knew it" - the war of with cavalry charges, bugles and "gallantry" etc.

This was war of a new kind. No longer is war left to the warriors. The entire population is involved. Cities (London) were bombed from the air for the first time. There are new weapons - tanks, airplanes, poison gas - entire countries laid waste physically and economically. And I could go on. But you get the drift. The thinking and analyses part takes longer than the reading part.
With respect to the reading part I learned a lot I had not known about the fighting on the Eastern front and in the Carpathians. Professor Stone is trenchant and opinionated; but for anyone wanting a concise history of World War I this is the book for that person. However, if you want more facts - and I did - John Keegan's "The First World War" (Vintage Books 2000) gives a fuller account of the tragedy and is beautifully written - well worth reading.
Mr. Stone calls his book a short history of the war, but he gives the reader both a clear presentation and boundless information that begs for further research and reading. As a retired history teacher, I enjoy delving into topics for which I have not had the time to read further. I am now reading his volume on World War II, and he has already given me areas to research. As a European, Mr. Stone gives the American reader details from a different perspective and includes references and minor details that merit research. He also profiles personalities with frequently humorous and revealing detail, the kind that suggest why certain battles, meetings, etc. resolved themselves the way that we know today.
World War I killed eleven million combatants; twenty million civilians and served as the beginning of the horrible "thirty year's war" period which ended only with Hiroshima and the fall of Germany in the final apocalypse of World War II. The twentieth century is the bloodiest century in recorded human history. It all began with the military industrialists of the pre-1914 era who engaged (on a massive scale) in colony acquisitions and the construction of huge naval fleets.
Norman Stone's formidable task was to tell the sanguinary tale of the Great War in less than 200 pages. He does so by giving the general reader a good idea of what happened in each of the war's years-1914-1918. For a more complete history the student of the war should turn to the large histories of the conflict authored by such giants as Hew Weldon, John Keegan, Niall Ferguson and others. This little book is "just getting your feet wet" with the fascinating subject under study.
As one who is widely read in World War I history, I will use this book frequently for the quotations the author provides which cuts the verbiage and strikes paydirt in describing a person, battle or situation in the war.
Among the best quotes I marked were these
With the Ukraine, Russia is a USA;without she is Canada...-p. 6
In four years the world went from 1870 to 1940-p. 35 (Stone is discussing advances in military technology-the war saw the first use of tanks, planes, radio communication and heavy cannon such as the German's Big Bertha).
On the whole the Germans were better prepared-p. 40
...the Germans had done well...mainly because the blockade had given them the will and the way for a proper war economy...-p. 74
Not many of the commanders were at all bright, and some were downright dim.-p. 77
Verdun...broke the French army...When she did fall in 1940 this was partly because her people did not want to go through Verdun again.-pp. 96-97
Tanks developed a certain mythology but they had their limits-p.105
Great wars develop a momentum of their own.-p. 117
Arthur Zimmerman's telegram was Germany's suicide note, written in farce-p. 125 (German foreign secretary Zimmerman sought to entice Mexico to declare war on the USA; in return they would be rewarded with territory seized by the Yankees in the Mexican War).
There were now thousands of guns and millions of shells-p. 126
Lenin had an extraordinary powerful character... His charisma does not show up in his writings, which are unreadable...it is difficult to see how Russians could be held captive by his oratory.-p. 135
The way was open for a second World War even more terrible than the First.-p. 190
Stone does not limit himself to discussions of battle and trench warfare on the Western Front. He briefly comments on battles between the Austrians and the Russians and Italians. As a scholar living in Turkey he discusses the Gallipoli Campaign and how Turkey was an important player in the war.
If you have a long afternoon ahead of you on a plane or a want to spend a quiet afternoon at home with a good book then this one is for you!