"The European powers were ready for war in 1914. Germany, fuelled by 'archaic militarism, global ambitions, and neurotic insecurity', took the offensive, in the misguided belief that it would shorten the conflict. Four years later, eight million people had died in the most apocalyptic episode the world had known." "Sir Michael Howard has meditated on the subject of the First World War for several decades. The result is an account of the events leading up to, and culminating in that conflict. With tremendous precision and clarity of vision he describes the effects of the conflict on soldiers and civilians alike, examining the military manoeuvres of the Allies and the rival alliances: the inhumane deployment of poison gas on the battlefield, the accelerated development of mechanized warfare, the establishment of the Royal Air Force in Britain, and the war at sea, which would draw America into the conflict. He highlights how the war fought at home - against the shortages of food, fuel, and raw materials for industry - caused the irreversible decline in German morale, a demise which was to lead to the eventual surrender of the German state." "Humiliated and bankrupt, utterly disempowered, Germany would never lose the belief that the war had been imposed upon her by the Allies. It would be that sense of injustice that would resonate through the decades to follow - to find final, chilling retribution in the hands of the Third Reich."--Jacket.

Maps on lining papers.

Europe in 1914 -- The coming of war -- 1914 : the opening campaigns -- 1915 : the war continues -- 1916 : the war of attrition -- The United States enters the war -- 1917 : the year of crisis -- 1918 : the year of decision -- The settlement -- Appendices : President Wilson's Fourteen Points -- Total war casualties.