My latest book was A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914 to 1918. I'm currently reading Anna Karenina and next up is The Robots of Dawn. After that, I'd really like to read a book that provides a good overview of World War II like A World Undone does for first world war. Very brief research seems to indicate that A World at Arms will be my best bet, but I'm very open to thoughts on that book or other options.
I'll be honest: I could probably count the number of things I knew about WWI prior to reading this book on one hand. World history has never been my strong suit, but I don't feel that this is an event that receives the attention it might deserve in history classes, particularly in the United States. One of the most obvious reasons is that it was so quickly eclipsed. Only two decades later WWII dwarfed WWI in pretty much every respect. It certainly did so with regard to duration, geographic scope, and casualties. More specifically to the US, we entered the war late, so our participation and its impact on us were fairly minimal, at least relative to the major participants. Reading through this book, which I would highly recommend, I found the history fascinating and a number of lessons available to those who would care to learn them.
I'll be honest: I could probably count the number of things I knew about WWI prior to reading this book on one hand. World history has never been my strong suit, but I don't feel that this is an event that receives the attention it might deserve in history classes, particularly in the United States. One of the most obvious reasons is that it was so quickly eclipsed. Only two decades later WWII dwarfed WWI in pretty much every respect. It certainly did so with regard to duration, geographic scope, and casualties. More specifically to the US, we entered the war late, so our participation and its impact on us were fairly minimal, at least relative to the major participants. Reading through this book, which I would highly recommend, I found the history fascinating and a number of lessons available to those who would care to learn them.
