The Sleepwalkers

How Europe Went to War in 1914

By: Christopher Clark

Narrated by: Derek Perkins

The Sleepwalkers is historian Christopher Clark's riveting account of the explosive beginnings of World War I. Drawing on new scholarship, Clark offers a fresh look at World War I, focusing not on the battles and atrocities of the war itself but on the complex events and relationships that led a group of well-meaning leaders into brutal conflict. Clark traces the paths to war in a minute-by-minute, action-packed narrative that cuts between the key decision centers in Vienna, Berlin, St. Petersburg, Paris, London, and Belgrade, and he examines the decades of history that informed the events of 1914 and details the mutual misunderstandings and unintended signals that drove the crisis forward in a few short weeks.

Meticulously researched and masterfully written, The Sleepwalkers is a dramatic and authoritative chronicle of Europe's descent into a war that tore the world apart.

©2012 Christopher Clark (P)2014 Tantor

Critic reviews

"For those who enjoy excellent scholarship joined with logical composition and an easy style of writing, save a (wide) spot on your bookshelf for Clark's work." (Kirkus)

Refreshing take on the origins of WW1

I've read several books about the start of World War 1, but all of them seem to take the view that the war was inevitable because of a myriad of factors. This is the only book that I have read that instead of facing on blame, takes a holistic look at all of the players involved and gives a neutral assessment of their actions.

An excellent history

This is an excellent and very detailed discussion of the origins of WWI. The narrator struggles with a few names but otherwise is very good.

I like the perspective

This book was packed with details of the lead up to WW1. This type of history can be stranger than fiction.

This reader talks too fast.

There is something about this reader that makes it hard to listen to. I had to slow down the speed, which I have NEVER done before. Great story, but I believe reading the book myself would have been better.

Read Guns of August first

This is a great deep dive into the nuances leading into WW1. If you really want to get something out of it, read/listen-to Guns of August first. In many ways, this is a response to that book, and others like it.

Overall, really interesting, but the reader is a little slow.