The World Undone

November 11, 2018

100th Anniversary of the Armistice Ending World War I

Fighting ceased at the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918. It was called the ‘Great War” – “The War to End All Wars”.

“The World Undone – The Story of the Great War, 1914 to 1918” by G. J. Meyer.

If you, like me, only learned about World War I has part of high school history or even if you researched further, I believe that you will find this book a very worthwhile read.

If at all possible get the audio or CD version narrated by Robin Sachs. It will make it so much more an enjoyable “read” then trying to pronounce all of the names of people and places. The unabridged narration is almost 28 hours

The First World War is one of history’s greatest tragedies. In this remarkable and intimate account, author G. J. Meyer draws on exhaustive research to bring to life the story of how the Great War reduced Europe’s mightiest empires to rubble, killed twenty million people, and cracked the foundations of the world we live in today.

A journalist and author (Executive Blues), Meyer doesn’t offer original synthesis or analysis, but he does bring a clear, economical style to the war’s beginnings; the gridlock produced by the successes and failures of both sides; the divided military and political counsels that hobbled efforts at resolving operational and diplomatic stalemates; and above all the constant carnage, on a scale that staggers the imagination. Meyer provides brief, useful background on subjects from the Armenian genocide to the Alsace-Lorraine question—topics he considers crucial to an understanding of the war, but too cursorily explained in most popular histories. Correspondingly, he blends “foreground, background, and sidelights” to highlight the complex interactions of apparently unconnected events behind the four-year catastrophic war that destroyed a world and defined a century.