1914
The Year the World Ended
Penguin Random House 2013
1914 shows how the old world died. It offers a fresh understanding of the causes of the Great War.
The world did not stumble or sleepwalk into war, as many suppose. The leaders of the governments of Europe chose war. Some did so exuberantly; others, reluctantly. All knew their actions risked a European conflagration.
The question at the heart of my history of the causes of WWI is this: Why did they continue fighting, knowing they were wiping out the best of a generation? Why did 20 million people have to die over four years of slaughter?
1914 shows that the usually cited causes of the Great War are woefully inadequate at explaining why it began … and why it continued.
Something deeper ran through the veins of Europe than imperial rivalry and national distrust. Indeed, the enemy within would prove more threatening to Europe’s sclerotic regimes than the foe on the battlefield.