A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914 to 1918

Having studied the Great War, I felt that the author of A World Undone tried a little too hard to stay out of the endless controversies over culpability. It was if he were determined to see that his version would be appreciated by, and fair to, all sides. I think he achieved that, and, to give him his due, there were very few things with which I disagreed, although my view is slightly different in certain areas. I certainly appreciated his occasional 'background' essays on topics that help familiarize readers with aspects of significance. I don't know that this is a great book, but it's a good one...and the narration by Robin Sachs is tremendous.

Within US history World War I is often relegated to being merely a prologue to World War II. I assume the reason for its relegation is due to the relatively minor role that the US served in WWI. This framing of history is unfortunate given how the outcome of World War I not only precipitated World War II, but gave birth to the powers, ideologies and technologies that shaped not only the rest of the 20th century but continue to influence world affairs today (see Middle East).

"A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914-1918" provides an excellent overview of the conflict. G.J. Meyer accomplishes the remarkable feat of balancing details with generalities in a compelling and engaging narrative of the war. Although the audio format makes following the geography of battles at times difficult, the strength of this book is Meyer's treatment of the personalities of the leaders and generals who, through their blind adherence to tactical orthodoxies that no longer suited modern war, facilitated the breakdown of armies and societies alike during the four years of stalemate that marked the First World War.

My favorite feature of the audiobook are the "Background" sections at the end of many chapters. These provide background details (e.g., The history of the Romanov dynasty) that permit a richer understanding of the socio-political context from which the war emerged.

The audio quality is excellent and Robin Sachs provides a smooth narration (I feel like all history books should be read by someone with an English accent).

My only criticism of the book is that it ends abruptly following the signing of the Versailles Treaty. Although the immediate aftermath of the war is itself worthy of an entire book, Meyer closes the book with brief biographies of some major figures from the war. One could almost picture the close of the book as the end of a movie when a character is shown in freeze frame and text is provided describing their fate following the close of the movie (e.g., the end of "Animal House").

Regardless of this one criticism, the book is highly recommended for anyone interested in World War I or military history.

The comprehensive narrative of one of the most devastating events of the twentieth century.

There are too many individuals involved with the events of the first world war to single out singular charecters as a favorite. What the author has done is to show the forces that drove all of the major individuals and the all to human side of them.

Evenness of delivery and exact pronunciation of difficult names and places.

I was stunned by the scope of the tragedy.

Most of the books dealing with the first world war choose a single subject (e.g. "Dreadnaught" which covers the naval move from sail to coal powered vessels and the advent of the super war ship) or battles. The books that try to deal with the whole leave me with a good nap. Undone is the first book to tackle the whole which doesn't send me to the sofa for a nap. Every time the narrative begins to bog down in the minutia there is a side bar back ground inserted which details some aspect that has the effect of livening up the narrative so that when you return to the main body your mind is ready to take on the battle again.

From the time I was a small child, I was fascinated by World War I, just as Meyer says he was. I asked a lot of questions of my parents and grandparents which were never quite answered. Perhaps they cannot be answered. That is part of the problem with approaching such an immensely complicated subject.

One thing is certain: to understand the second war, one must look to the first. We who were born afterward, the ones whom the German language calls "die Nachgeborenen," have a duty to understand both wars as deeply as we can for obvious reasons.

To attempt to write a survey of World War I is an ambitious endeavor. Meyer's achievement is all the more impressive because he manages to do so in a compelling, interesting way throughout.

As with the author's monumental work on the Tudors, each chapter is dense with information. "Side trips" follow in the form of background sections, which illuminate some of the more complicated issues. These annotations are seamless and full of essential information.

Perhaps as we approach the centennial of the beginning of World War I, interest will be renewed and Meyer's book will reach a wide audience. It certainly deserves to do so. It is an excellent all-in-one choice, a true "desert island" book. If you want to read just one book on World War I, I recommend this to you without hesitation.

I have always loved Robin Sachs' narrations, and this book was no exception. His calm voice and ease in pronouncing foreign languages made listening a joy. I was saddened to read he just passed away on February 1, just days before his birthday. May he rest in peace.

I have read many books about WWII but have long thought I needed a better understanding of WWI and how it led to WWII. This book fills that gap and then some.

I really appreciated the way the author did "background" on the various cultures and participants. This greatly increased my knowledge of Europe and the eastern empires.

As a history book there were no character performances but he did a great job in reading it.

The length of the book would prohibit that but it would have been great to have the time to listen to larger segments at a time.

I wish I had listened to this book before reading anything of WWII. If I had, all my reading of WWII would have been more meaningful.

If I had the time and temperament to sit and read this book i would choose the print version, especially on account of the battle maps. Pondering the depth and scope of wwi's subsequent impact on humanity is worthy of many hours reading and study at hearth side and this is one of the best vehicles whereby to so deliberate.

explaining some of the back ground the groups such as the "black hand" who conspired to kill the Austrian Duke, explaining why the Duke felt he needed to be in Sarajevo at that time... explaining the initial war mobilization plans that each country felt it had to invoke, explaining earlier diplomatic and economic events that lead each country feel that they needed to be emphatic in their respective postures as August 1918 approached... I'm sure I could count many more on careful reflection.

very apt. I felt as if the author himself was reading the book.

what fools these mortals be!

This book attempts to explain all angles of wwi very carefully and may be the best book of its kind to address the subject.. In many ways wwi is the most important event of the 20th century. Mr. Meyer gives us extraordinary depth and breadth exploring fine points of the leaders' lives of all the major countries, economic considerations, strategic theories, and so on... I do not have the time to sit and read a volume such as this but i often wished i had the book in hand to more carefully study the battle maps... I found it interesting and easy to listen to all the way through. I may well buy the book and am planning to listen to it at least one more time. If you're interested in history this one is a must.

This history is a necessary corrective to Niall Ferguson's right-wing revisionist tome "The Pity of War." Meyer returns moral clarity to the period, particularly the immediate pre-war period during which the feckless leaders of the Central Powers deliberately pulled the whole of Europe into catastrophe.

One of the better ones

The background at the begining of every chapter tieing the story together.

Not possible, but looked forward to every sitting

Excellent book worth the price!!!!!

A World Undone is a very comprehensive history of WW1, yet accessible for non-experts.
Interspersed throughout are sections called "Background" which give compelling accounts of everything from the origin of the weapons used to fight WW1 to the personal history of leading politicians and generals, to the history of the major warring countries. They help the reader get the necessary background to understand the war, yet fit in very nicely with the narrative flow of the rest of the chapters.

The narrator is also excellent.

I have the print version as well as the audio version, and while it is very enjoyable to read it's nice to have someone read it to me!

The overall presentation of the material is very well presented.

The book is the very best book I have found on World War 1, the material is presented so that even someone who knows nothing about this chapter of history will gain a very good understanding of how it happend & why.