To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918

Outstanding account of the Great War from an English point of view. Hochschild covers most of the military action of the war, but the further the action gets from the Western Front, the more summarized it becomes. What he's really after are the personalities: the generals John French and Douglas Haig; antiwar activists like French's sister Charlotte Despard, Sylvia Pankhurst, and Bertrand Russell; government officials like Alfred Milner and Keir Hardie. It's a grim, bloody story, and Hochschild thinks it wasn't worth it. What was gained, he wonders, to compensate for opening the door to the horrors of total war, mechanized slaughter, and genocide? Arthur Morey narrates the details in a matter-of-fact way, but his voice gathers a hard edge as he recounts events like the execution of men who were emotionally shattered by the constant bombardment, or the ghastly experience of watching new shells further shredding the remains of buried comrades. When he gets to the epilogue, the march of numbers (one million, ten million, fifty million) becomes almost unbearable.

Hochschild has proven himself a master of the sweeping historical narrative. This account of those who, during WWI, fought on the side of peace is a powerful series of character sketches. The people who supported the war were often closely related to those who vehemently opposed it. The hawks' sons died alongside the doves'. Drawing on every kind of extant source material imaginable - love letters, court transcripts, philosophical pamphlets - the author manages, in my estimation, to recast a world that is in so many ways lost to us.

The narrator is more than competent. I enjoyed listening to this book the first time, and am enjoying it just as much the second.

Here's another excellent history from Adam Hochschild. He takes a subject, World War I, which has been thoroughly worked by many historians for many decades, and uncovers new material and a new angle from which to view the war. He presents harsh truths, but in ways so intriguing and well researched that you cannot stop listening.

Anyone who feels the tale of war can be told by totaling up troop and equipment will be disapointed with this full juicy and robust telling of WW1.
The reasons and ego's behind the decisions that killed millions of sons and daughters is brought to the fore and fills in preconceptions regarding the period and attitudes of the goverments and popular figures. In some ways more importantly, the family bickering of "kings and queens" that brought a generation of bright and energetic young men to it's knees is what I found most repulsive.
A cautionary tale of the highest order and should be taught in classrooms or given to your kids. It is open ended and I think honest. Every chapter made me want to purse a side issue that was brought up, but not really expanded upon which is a gift in itself.
Well done Adam and I hope you write again soon.

This book, much to my surprise, is never dull, always insightful, and utterly fascinating. I never knew much about the history of the war and this book brings it to life. It gives a wonderful sense of perspective on the times and political realities of the era both in a broad sense of the politics of nations, but also through the lives of individuals; soldiers, pacifists, generals.

Both the writing and narration are superb and you will find yourself savoring every minute of this excellent effort.

Excellent history of the few in England who objected to fighting a war in France but too few for a great narrative. Some interesting characters and tales but thin. Still, informative and well written.

This is one of the best books I've ever read (well, heard.) Hochschild weaves hundreds of strands of history into a gripping and compelling narrative. As soon as I finished I just started it over. And Arthur Morey does a superb job - even if the book wasn't so fantastic, it would be worth listening to just to hear him.

The attention to detail involving the causes of WW I and the vivid descriptions of the WW I trench warfare makes this an exceptional history and a very well-written book.

World Antiwar I

Though I'm a high school history teacher, conventional war history rarely has much of a hook for me--I'm more of a social history guy. While Hochschild helped me by providing a framework of reasonable dimensions for the unfolding of the war, the book does a great job tracking key figures before and during the war who wound up playing key roles in the debate over Britain's involvement. As a study of dedicated antiwar socialists, conscientious objectors, and others, and sometimes their relatives who were all over the map ideologically, it was a fascinating study of the kinds of stories that we social history types are always clamoring for more of: prison conditions, treatment of the COs, the thinking behind radical political movements. But, with Hochschild's approach, the story of the war itself is so much richer than a chronicle of combat, as he shines the light on such compelling elements as day-to-day life for the soldiers and the impact on the body of mustard and chlorine gas. A great, great read for the history geeks.

Bertrand Russel had a convincingly calm glibness that I liked, and Gen. Haig struck the right tone, I thought, of arrogance, impatience, and hubris--which matched everything Hochschild said about him.

nah...none worth it's salt really is--too much information to absorb, especially when so much of it is so heartbreaking. Nah.

This is a winner. I'd say it's in the top 25% of the audio books I've read through Audible. And bear in mind that I'm very very choosy about the ones I pick, buy, and listen too.

this book was riveting. I felt the author did a great job weaving many disparate threads into a seamless narrative portraying the failures and challenges of WWI from Britain's perspective. At first I didn't think I would like the narrator -- much more intellectual and not as much character portrayal than I tend to like. But he got under my skin and I really enjoyed his approach.