Exploring WWI: A World Undone - A Comprehensive Look at the Great War

Kathy M: I learned a lot about World War I, a conflict I really did not know much about before. A lot of the battles had familiar names but I never knew much about them. It was a sickening conflict, run by many arrogant leaders, safe in grand surroundings, who had no respect or empathy for the soldiers they commanded. In fact, they were treated like animals, and the leaders seemed to lack any conscience about sending men out to die horrible deaths. This applies to both sides of the conflict.

Meyer provides a lot of details about the war, which at times is a little confusing for the reader to follow, though his prose is not lacking in grace. A splendid feature of the book is his inclusion at the end of most chapters of “human interest” pieces about the major players in the war and other interesting background information. He also includes a generous amount of eyewitness accounts, which put you right inside the soldiers’ experiences.

I can’t compare this book with other books on this subject, but I don’t see how someone else could have crafted something better. It was literally a page-turner for me, and though it is a fairly massive tome I completed reading it in a...

United States on Sep 03, 2023

Erik Grinolds: This is a really good overview of World War One. I learned a lot reading the book. I really liked all of the background information spread throughout the book.

United States on Aug 31, 2023

Keith H. Carter: This book left no stone unturned explaining the prelude, the four years of horror, and the armistice of World War I. It is a must-read for anyone interested in this horrible period of history.

United States on Aug 15, 2023

Amazon Customer: The depth of details- to gain in-depth knowledge in history

Canada on Aug 05, 2023

Bruce in Fort Myers: The book was fascinating and enjoyable, my only issue is that I wish there were more maps on my kindle version. There are many parts of the book devoted to the unbelievable battles and more maps would have been nice. I also would have liked a bit more American information, but it really was a European battle so I understand why the book was written as it was.

I've read and watched a lot of WWII books and documentaries, as well as books on the ancient world, but as I start reading about The Great War I am finding it really important in understanding the world today. It is also shocking how absolutely brutal it was.

Bottom line is that I highly recommend this book and I look forward to reading more by G. J. Meyer.

United States on Jul 05, 2023

Don Mac Arthur: The author melds the history into interesting and readable stories. He avoids the cult
of personality and hopeless whitewashing that plagues the subject.

Canada on Nov 30, 2022

Amazon Customer: Liked the detail of the land war in Europe
Disliked the absence of coverage of the war in Africa which permanently changed the continent and a much more detailed coverage of the war at sea , the absence of these two detracted from the book , but it is in recognition of the detailed coverage of the war in Europe that I still gave book five stars

Canada on Mar 02, 2022

Mike From Mesa: Like most people today World War II has always been more immediate to me than World War I. It is not a matter of the years' removal from the war as much as the events themselves. The immediate causes of World War II were clear from the rise of Nazism in Germany to the invasion and attempted subjugation of China by Japan while the causes of World War I were more obscure. Further, the results of the second war, from the division of Europe through the rise of an essentially unarmed Japan, are still part of yesterday's headlines while the immediate results of World War I (the Weimar Republic, the occupation of the Rhineland, the Free City of Danzig) are essentially hidden in the mists of history. Because of this I have long looked for a clear explanation for the start of World War I as well as an overview of the war itself.

I had long heard about the terrible loss of life in that war without really having a good understanding of the "hows" and "whys" of the war itself. Added to this problem was my lack of understanding of exactly how the old structure of Europe, now long gone, either caused or contributed to the causes of this war. I had read other books to try to understand...

United States on Mar 16, 2013

A. Franco: I bought this book because other reviewers indicated it as the best introduction to WWI -- and indeed it is!

Previously I had tried a couple of other books on the subject, but they were taking too much for granted and weren't giving me enough background information that would allow me to understand why certain things happened in the way they did. "A World Undone", on the other hand, does an excellent job at providing this type of information: every second chapter is a "Background" chapter that zooms in on one particular character or aspect of the war, dissecting its causes and explaining its consequences. Additionally, the book is very well written and engaging.

Having said this, I feel I must clarify a couple of things:

- In the reviews on Amazon.com someone was recommending the purchase of the print copy rather than the Kindle copy because otherwise it would be difficult fully to enjoy the maps within the book. Well, this is the only reason why I bought the print copy rather than the Kindle one, and I am doubly disappointed. First of all, the pages started coming off the binding almost immediately, and by now there are some 100 of them that came off. I am...

United Kingdom on Dec 12, 2012

Paul Morris: This book is a masterpiece of simplicity due to the authors efforts .The sheer number of cross references in the back are proof that he certainly burnt the midnight oil.
It was such and easy book to read.Nothing high brow for the sake of it.
Yes it is a longish book but it was a longish war!!
One is left with the feeling that the first world war was a buggers muddle of intrigue and double dealing right from the start.
It was a surprise to me that so many countries and states were so territorially acquisitive and full of old hatreds.
Why the entire entourage of red tabs in the British army were not summarily put in front of a firing squad is beyond my comprehension so inept were they at making war.
One is left with the distinct impression that the working man was regarded as just anther expendable piece of kit - cheap and easily replaceable.
To paraphrase our Winston : ...never in the fields of human conflict were so many lives wasted by so few for so little gain."
A book I would recommend to anyone who wants to start learning the sad story of the Great War.

United Kingdom on Aug 15, 2012