Maps -- Introduction -- To arms -- Under the eagle -- Global war -- Jihad -- Shackled to a corpse -- Breaking the deadlock -- Blockade -- Revolution -- Germany's last gamble -- War without end -- Acknowledgements -- Notes -- Index

Ninety years have passed since the outbreak of the First World War, yet as military historian Hew Strachan argues in this brilliant and authoritative new book, the legacy of the "war to end all wars" is with us still. A truly global conflict from the start, the war and many of its most decisive battles were fought in or directly affected the Balkans, Africa, and the Ottoman Empire. Even more than the Second World War, the First World War continues to shape the politics and international relations of our world, especially in hot spots such as the Middle East and the Balkans. Strachan has done a masterful job of reexamining the causes, the major campaigns, and the consequences of the First World War, compressing a lifetime of knowledge into a single definitive volume. Written in crisp, compelling prose and enlivened with vivid photographs, many of which have never appeared in print before, and detailed maps, The First World War re-creates this world-altering conflict both on and off the battlefield: the clash of ideologies between the colonial powers at the center of the war, the social and economic unrest that swept Europe both before and after, the military strategies employed with stunning success and tragic failure in the various theaters of war, the terms of peace and why it did not last. Drawing on material culled from many countries, Strachan offers a fresh, clear-sighted perspective on how the war not only redrew the map of the world but also set in motion the most dangerous conflicts of today. Deeply learned and powerfully written, The First World War will stand as a landmark of contemporary history. - Jacket flap