World War I companion

The 13 essays in this collection focus primarily on the strategic, tactical, and operational aspects of WW I and range from broad themes, such as the aerial and naval war, to micro-studies of the British army's expansion and the German occupation of Ukraine. One of the book's virtues is its coverage of the eastern front from the perspective of the German, Austro-Hungarian, and Russian empires. Such a focus moves from an analysis of why each state collapsed to an understanding of how each endured for so long. Instead of focusing just on the war years, many of the authors seek to provide connections to later developments. For example, Francois Cochet's essay on the French army challenges the conventional wisdom of a hidebound institution wedded to the cult of the offensive during the war but asserts that it failed to adapt to the postwar reality, with disastrous consequences in 1940. Few of the authors push historiographical boundaries. Rather, they synthesize a generation of scholarship on WW I in a clear and concise manner that is particularly useful to teachers and students looking to develop research topics. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries. F. Krome University of Cincinnati--Clermont College