The Pity of War

Explaining World War I

By: Niall Ferguson

Narrated by: Graeme Malcolm

From a bestselling historian, a daringly revisionist history of World War I
The Pity of War makes a simple and provocative argument: the human atrocity known as the Great War was entirely England's fault. According to Niall Ferguson, England entered into war based on naive assumptions of German aims, thereby transforming a Continental conflict into a world war, which it then badly mishandled, necessitating American involvement. The war was not inevitable, Ferguson argues, but rather was the result of the mistaken decisions of individuals who would later claim to have been in the grip of huge impersonal forces.
That the war was wicked, horrific, and inhuman is memorialized in part by the poetry of men like Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon, but also by cold statistics. Indeed, more British soldiers were killed in the first day of the Battle of the Somme than Americans in the Vietnam War. And yet, as Ferguson writes, while the war itself was a disastrous folly, the great majority of men who fought it did so with little reluctance and with some enthusiasm. For anyone wanting to understand why wars are fought, why men are willing to fight them and why the world is as it is today, there is no sharper or more stimulating guide than Niall Ferguson's The Pity of War.

Fresh insights and obliterating old assumptions

This is an excellent analysis and commentary on well studied topic of World War I,, that has shaped much of the 20th and 21st centuries.

The economic, social, and cultural examinations, were particularly surprising, and engaging.

The author succeeded in overcoming the common temptation of coloring WWI with the subsequent WW II, making the space for a clearer analysis of cause and effects.

Thank you, Niall Ferguson, for a great book.

History of the War by Topic

In each chapter, the author addresses a single topic of the war, including financing the war, the armaments industry in each country, morale of frontline soldiers, what drove men to volunteer in 1914, the draft, literature produced by the men at the front, how the armistice led to the collapse of the German army. A well-sourced, detailed look at different aspects of the war.

Precision of narrative

Especially liked the detail with which every aspect of World War I was covered; the causes for the beginning of the conflict, the various problems of the soldiers and politicians during the war End of the countries involved, and, lastly, the reckoning in terms of causes.

Thought provoking.

This is overall a great book. As another reviewer mentioned, this book isn’t for a person looking to learn about ww1 and the main events and timeline. Rather this is a great book to read after you have read a few other books on ww1. To me each chapter is unique and provides a thought provoking question- it’s as though you are in a classroom lecture discussing the war and focusing on a unique aspect of it, looking beneath the general ‘facts’ of the war.

One tip I would give for people who have a hard time comprehending what they read. Read the conclusion chapter first. Each of the chapters in the book focuses on a specific question. The concluding chapter provides a 1-2 paragraph summary of each of the chapters that is nice to read. He goes into lots of details in each chapter to make his case, so sometimes you can get a little lost.

All around, definitely a top 5 book to read on WW1 if you want to get into the nuances of events and not just regurgitate the ‘facts’.

Excellent book

Interesting perspective on WW1. Fascinating and exceptionally well written. I really enjoyed the narration too. Highly recommended.