The First World War: A Complete History

Martin Gilbert's account weaves together the major fronts of World War I into a single narrative. The war began at 11:15 on the morning of June 28, 1914, in Sarajevo, an outpost of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and officially ended nearly five years later. However, many of its consequences persist today. The conflict killed and maimed millions of civilians and soldiers. It introduced new military technologies including tanks, planes, submarines, machine guns, field artillery, poison gas, and chemical warfare. The war also saw the first use of U-boat packs, strategic bombing, unrestricted attacks on civilians, and widespread mistreatment of prisoners. Beyond military innovation, the war fundamentally reshaped the world. Empires collapsed, monarchies fell, and populations lost their national identities. Political systems and geographic boundaries were redrawn, causing seismic shifts in social order. Manners, cultural norms, literature, the arts, education, and class distinctions all underwent profound change. Gilbert demonstrates that the twentieth century was born on that June morning in 1914.