Never before have so many new books about the First World War been published in one year. This year it was exactly 100 years ago that this devastating European war broke out. Amsterdam University Press also contributed with an 'elementary part' about the war, 'a concise and accessible introduction to the history of the First World War'. The elementary particle First World War is a translation of the 'Very short introduction' on the subject, by the British historian Michael Howard, who wrote the booklet in 2007 and then retired.
The particle gives a general overview of the start-up, course and conclusion of the First World War. Howard is a military historian by birth, so he takes an in-depth look at the many battles, frozen trenches and strategic considerations of the belligerent countries. Howard is less concerned about the social, cultural and political aspects of the Great War, but choices have to be made in just 150 pages.
Howard begins nicely in the Europe of 1914, the emergence of Germany as a unity that has upset the balance of power since 1870, the alliances between Germany and Austria-Hungary on the one hand, and France, Russia and Great Britain on the other. He also discusses the political situations in the countries involved. Howard does not talk too much about why the war broke out and who was to blame – a hot topic in 2014.
Few surprises, no new insights
Then we read a general story of how the German plan of attack on France failed within weeks and the armies dug in for a four-year war of attrition. About how the war then spread around the world, how disastrous the war on the Eastern Front was for both Russia and Austria and how it finally became peace again in 1918 after the US got involved in the war in 1917. The design may be sober and boring, but Howard tells a concise but very solid story, albeit without many surprises.
But anyone who has already read more about the First World War in the anniversary year of 2014 will be disturbed by the fact that more than seven years of new insights are obviously nowhere to be found. New insights, such as that of the Australian historian Christopher Clarke, who delved into the causes of the war in the recently published Sleepwalkers, should really no longer be missing in a book about the Great War.
The dated Howard's booklet also makes the 'continue reading' box on the last page a mockery. Howard refers to literature that reflects the current state of affairs in 2007, but is sometimes outdated or revised in 2014. In any case, the important studies from recent years are missing.
For those who do not want to read too much and are not looking for a lot of academic nuance, the elementary part of the First World War is a nice read. But it would have been nice for an academic publisher like Amsterdam University Press to at least add an up-to-date bibliography.