The First World War was the true turning point of the twentieth century. It brought down dynasties and empires, including the Ottoman; it changed the United States from a bumptious provincial nation into a world power; it made World War II inevitable, and the Cold War as well. Above all, the Great War was history's first total war, an armed conflict on a world stage between industrialised powers.

LIST OF MAPS  xi

INTRODUCTION  xiii

  I. PROLOGUE

EUROPE 1914 by Sir Michael Howard

  II. DEADLOEIfi

UNEXPECTED ENCOUNTER AT BERTRIX by BruceL Gudmundsson

THE MASSACRE OF THE INNOCENTS by Robert Cowley

THE CHRISTMAS TRUCE by Stanley Weintraub

A BAD AFTERNOON AT AUBERS RIDGE byLionel Sotheby

ARTOIS 1915 by Douglas Porch

THE STAKES OF 1915 by Robert Cowley

NO-MAN'S-LAND by Malcolm Brown

  IlI. THE NAVAL WAR

FISHER'S FACE by Jan Morris

THE FIRST BATTLE OF THE FALKLANDS by Ronald H. Spector

THE WRECK OF THE MAGDEBURG by David Kahn

JUTLAND by John Keegan

  IV. A WORLD AT ARM5

GALLIPOLI: THE OTHER SIDE OF THE HILL by Tim Travers

KUT by Robert E Jones

BRUSILOV'S IMMORTAL DAYS by ]amie H, Cockfield

SALONIKA by Dennis E. Showalter

  v. THE FIRST AIB WAR

THE FOKKER MENACE by Michael Spick

THE WAR LOVER by Robert Wohl

THEIR "GOLDEN GLORY" by Thomas Fleming

  VI. TIPPING POINTS

"THESE HIDEOUS WEAPONS" by BruceI. Gudmundsson

JULY 1, 1916: THE REASON WHY by Tim Travers

THE SOMME: THE LAST 140 DAYS by Robert Cowley

D DAY 1917 by Rod Paschall

THE BREAKING OF ARMIES by]ohn Keegan

MARCH 21, 1918 by O'Brien Browne

DIE PARISKANONE by Robert L. O'Connell

IRON GENERAL by Thomas Fleming

BELLEAU WOOD: ONE MAN'S INITIATION by Allan R. Millett

THE MYTHICAL MORNING OF SERGEANT YORK by]oh}t Bowers

  viI. AFTERMATH

THE MOURNING PARENTS by Robert Cowley

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS  489

PERMISSION ACKNOWLEDGMENTS  491

INDEX   493