World War One

In 1914 a new kind of war, and a new kind of world, came about. Fourteen million combatants died, a further twenty million were wounded, four empires were destroyed and even the victors' empires were fatally damaged. This title provides a terse, opinionated and wry short history of the First World War.

Bold, provocative and witty ... one of the outstanding historians of our age

Do we need another history of the First World War? The answer in the case of Norman Stone's short book is, yes - because of its opinionated freshness and the unusual, sharp facts that fly about like shrapnel

One of the most original modern commentaries on the conflict ... this stimulating work can be read for pleasure in an afternoon, even if you are not particularly interested in World War One. That truly is the mark of a great history book

Exhilarating ... scintillating ... a heady cocktail

Entertaining and insightful ... one of the handful of living historians who can write with style and wit

A corker of a book ... brings more clarity to this complex, much-written about subject than some historians manage to do in books three or four times as long

Norman Stone is one of Britain's most celebrated historians. For the period 1984-97 he was Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford. Professor Stone's publications include The Eastern Front 1914-1917 (Winner of the Wolfson Prize and published by Penguin) Hitler and Europe Transformed . He lives in Oxford and Istanbul.