---
product_id: 10610229
title: "The First World War: A Very Short Introduction"
price: "VT12138"
currency: VUV
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reviews_count: 11
url: https://www.desertcart.vu/products/10610229-the-first-world-war-a-very-short-introduction
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region: Vanuatu
---

# The First World War: A Very Short Introduction

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## Description

desertcart.com: The First World War: A Very Short Introduction: 9780199205592: Howard, Michael: Books

Review: A concise and well crafted review of WWI - This 2010 book is a re-issue of the 2003 “The First World War” by the same author. Instead of a work crammed with information like some other books from the Very Short Introduction series, it has been written as a self-standing short history of the war. It is clear and broad in its conceptualization and its chronological approach, from context of the European powers at the beginning of the century to the consequential decisions of the Treaty of Versailles is easy to follow and provides a good scope of this period. A good and readable introduction to an event that changed the World.
Review: Short introduction, good first impression - The First World War: A Very Short Introduction by Michael Howard is just that—a short introduction to WWI that seeks primarily to inform readers of the economic, societal, political and militant activities during the turbulent four-year span of 1914-1918. Within this shortened text, Howard has compiled and morphed the timelines of these varying events according to country, and by doing so, has attempted to recreate the simultaneous unfolding of warfare. This book includes battle descriptions and locations as well as briefly references military tactics, political agendas, governmental decisions, civilian life, propaganda techniques, financial struggles, resource depletion and offers a variety of speculations regarding each. In addition, Howard, although not entirely objective in his portrayal, makes an apparent, yet subtle effort to identify reoccurring themes such as hope, discouragement, fear, and motivation. As a result, Howard often poses as a Daniel Boone figure that readers can use as a guide for understanding both the concrete and more abstract components of WWI. With an instructor-to-student type of writing persona, Howard manages to pack large amounts of content into relatively few pages. Since his intended readership is most likely high school and undergraduate level researchers, his historical overview is quite concise, which is typically a coveted strength in introductory books. However, he does deviate occasionally with a few wordy, reoccurring sayings and unnecessary descriptive phrases, which has a tendency to slog down certain passages. Additionally, just as all writing styles have their limitations, the bare-bones quality of this book a similar tendency to sometimes appear as “data dump” of information (which can also add to this text’s data-swampland quality). As a result, examples are stacked on top of examples, furthermore giving Howard’s history a sometimes-stilted presentation. This book is formatted in a timeline fashion; however, in order to supply his readers with additional context, Howard often inserts a “sub-timelines” so to speak, within his already chronological organization. These expanded contexts help readers understand the war both in its militant setting, but also within its civilian one. However, all context and information must be taken with a grain of salt. Howard’s portrayal of the war comes from a British historian perspective, and his book reflects this in both word choice and content. When all is taken to account, however, this book does a decent job of fulfilling its purpose. It focuses on both the events and the contexts surrounding them as well as keeps in mind the swirling dichotomies of other warfare factors. It’s concise. It’s informative, and although sometimes it does an odd teeter-totter dance between being formal and dense or being informal and speculative, it’s a readable book that a student would find helpful if they just want to know the crunch time basics of WWI.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #203,809 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #22 in Military History (Books) #86 in World War I History (Books) #2,483 in World History (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars (645) |
| Dimensions  | 6.8 x 0.4 x 4.3 inches |
| Edition  | 1st |
| ISBN-10  | 0199205590 |
| ISBN-13  | 978-0199205592 |
| Item Weight  | 2.31 pounds |
| Language  | English |
| Part of series  | Very Short Introductions |
| Print length  | 134 pages |
| Publication date  | May 20, 2007 |
| Publisher  | Oxford University Press |

## Images

![The First World War: A Very Short Introduction - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/915r2RrrHQL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A concise and well crafted review of WWI
*by E***O on December 22, 2024*

This 2010 book is a re-issue of the 2003 “The First World War” by the same author. Instead of a work crammed with information like some other books from the Very Short Introduction series, it has been written as a self-standing short history of the war. It is clear and broad in its conceptualization and its chronological approach, from context of the European powers at the beginning of the century to the consequential decisions of the Treaty of Versailles is easy to follow and provides a good scope of this period. A good and readable introduction to an event that changed the World.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Short introduction, good first impression
*by K***J on September 25, 2015*

The First World War: A Very Short Introduction by Michael Howard is just that—a short introduction to WWI that seeks primarily to inform readers of the economic, societal, political and militant activities during the turbulent four-year span of 1914-1918. Within this shortened text, Howard has compiled and morphed the timelines of these varying events according to country, and by doing so, has attempted to recreate the simultaneous unfolding of warfare. This book includes battle descriptions and locations as well as briefly references military tactics, political agendas, governmental decisions, civilian life, propaganda techniques, financial struggles, resource depletion and offers a variety of speculations regarding each. In addition, Howard, although not entirely objective in his portrayal, makes an apparent, yet subtle effort to identify reoccurring themes such as hope, discouragement, fear, and motivation. As a result, Howard often poses as a Daniel Boone figure that readers can use as a guide for understanding both the concrete and more abstract components of WWI. With an instructor-to-student type of writing persona, Howard manages to pack large amounts of content into relatively few pages. Since his intended readership is most likely high school and undergraduate level researchers, his historical overview is quite concise, which is typically a coveted strength in introductory books. However, he does deviate occasionally with a few wordy, reoccurring sayings and unnecessary descriptive phrases, which has a tendency to slog down certain passages. Additionally, just as all writing styles have their limitations, the bare-bones quality of this book a similar tendency to sometimes appear as “data dump” of information (which can also add to this text’s data-swampland quality). As a result, examples are stacked on top of examples, furthermore giving Howard’s history a sometimes-stilted presentation. This book is formatted in a timeline fashion; however, in order to supply his readers with additional context, Howard often inserts a “sub-timelines” so to speak, within his already chronological organization. These expanded contexts help readers understand the war both in its militant setting, but also within its civilian one. However, all context and information must be taken with a grain of salt. Howard’s portrayal of the war comes from a British historian perspective, and his book reflects this in both word choice and content. When all is taken to account, however, this book does a decent job of fulfilling its purpose. It focuses on both the events and the contexts surrounding them as well as keeps in mind the swirling dichotomies of other warfare factors. It’s concise. It’s informative, and although sometimes it does an odd teeter-totter dance between being formal and dense or being informal and speculative, it’s a readable book that a student would find helpful if they just want to know the crunch time basics of WWI.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Great summary
*by S***H on July 9, 2004*

I was suprised when the book arrived because not only is it just 170 pages, but the book is the size of a paperback so it's really almost an extended essay in length. A few nice pictures add atmosphere and some maps although they don't show every place refrenced in the text, but do show places not refrenced so that could have been better. I have never read WWI history but known a lot from popular culure. I knew about certain broad themes like the domino effect of alliances but overall it seemed like a highly complex and boring war. Yet I also knew this war was vital to understanding such things as the origins of WWII, the origins of the middle east conflicts, nationalism. The origins of the modern age. Imagine knowing a subject so well you could write an encyclopedia that had to be condensed down to a long essay. Michael Howard does this with incredible skill, because of the limiting length every sentence is a pure nugget of insight he makes no waste of the space provided. The major points of military, social and political are covered allowing one to see the entire war from start to finish in very short order and without spending months trumping through the trenches of detail and anecdote one might find in more lengthy or specific books. I rate this book highly because it did exactly what I was hopeing for. A short easy to read high level overview of the war to provide a spring board to read more areas in detail in the future and to understand the war in relation to other larger historical forces.

## Frequently Bought Together

- The First World War: A Very Short Introduction
- All Quiet on the Western Front: A Novel
- The World War I Reader

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*Last updated: 2026-02-23*