Looking for single-volume 'history of The Great War'

[simond9x]

Sorry for the generic nature of this thread but I'm looking for recommendations. My son, who is on the road a lot, knows very little about WW1 or WW2. He's has just finished listening to the audio book of Anthony Beevor's 'The Second World War' (whilst driving) and thoroughly enjoyed it, said it's taught him a lot and left him wanting to learn more. He's asked me if I can recommend anything similar for WW1. I would love to draw him into my obsession with The Great War and I do have 100s of books on the subject. Surprisingly, I have no one book that covers the entire war - they're all specific about years, battles, people, regiments, etc, etc. I thought about starting him off with something like Lyn MacDonald's books which more or less cover it year by year but I think only one of them is available as an audio book.

So, I'm looking for any recommendations on how to get him started. He's on the road a lot and has a young family so has very little time, at the moment, for reading physical books. I think it should err on the military side rather than just political or socio-economic. Ideally, covering the whole war (but, if not, the war on the Western Front) and be available as an audio book. Once he's 'on board' I can feed him any number of books on specific subjects.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Edited 3 March by simond9x

[FROGSMILE]

36 minutes ago, simond9x said:

Sorry for the generic nature of this thread but I'm looking for recommendations. My son, who is on the road a lot, knows very little about WW1 or WW2. He's has just finished listening to the audio book of Anthony Beevor's 'The Second World War' (whilst driving) and thoroughly enjoyed it, said it's taught him a lot and left him wanting to learn more. He's asked me if I can recommend anything similar for WW1. I would love to draw him into my obsession with The Great War and I do have 100s of books on the subject. Surprisingly, I have no one book that covers the entire war - they're all specific about years, battles, people, regiments, etc, etc. I thought about starting him off with something like Lyn MacDonald's books which more or less cover it year by year but I think only one of them is available as an audio book.

So, I'm looking for any recommendations on how to get him started. He's on the road a lot and has a young family so has very little time, at the moment, for reading physical books. I think it should err on the military side rather than just political or socio-economic. Ideally, covering the whole war (but, if not, the war on the Western Front) and be available as an audio book. Once he's 'on board' I can feed him any number of books on specific subjects.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

I recommend these two classics that can be obtained readily online.  They are both some years old now, but are generally considered to be very readable and informative.  Another in the same league is by Martin Gilbert.  I personally think these are the best three covering the war in a broad way.

Edited 3 March by FROGSMILE

[simond9x]

Great thanks, frogsmile. I'll look into those.

[simond9x]

I've just had a thought..... I'll suggest 'Forgotten Voices Of The Great War' by Max Arthur. Great hearing the story of the Great War told by the people who experienced it.

[FROGSMILE]

2 hours ago, simond9x said:

Great thanks, frogsmile. I'll look into those.

It depends on what you want to achieve.

[kenf48]

3 hours ago, simond9x said:

 

So, I'm looking for any recommendations on how to get him started. He's on the road a lot and has a young family so has very little time, at the moment, for reading physical books. I think it should err on the military side rather than just political or socio-economic. Ideally, covering the whole war (but, if not, the war on the Western Front) and be available as an audio book. Once he's 'on board' I can feed him any number of books on specific subjects.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

If he is on the road a lot he might want to consider listening to Podcasts e.g the WFA Mentioned in Despatches; Paul Reed Old Front Line; a recent addition Not So Quiet on the Western Front Dr Spencer Jones and Dan Hill chronologically goes from major battles of 1914 through to 1918 and of course Peter Hart and Gary Bain ‘Pete and Gary’s Military History’ and many more he may care to explore.

If you really want a book:-

Peter Hart has published many books based on oral history including  The Great War 1914-1918 also available as an audiobook and favourably compared to Beevor in a review.

Gary Sheffield’s Forgotten Victory 2001 ‘The First World War Myths and Realities’ is a good introduction and again with Dr Spencer Jones he has a brilliant podcast ‘Military History Plus’ which includes a three parter on the historiography of the Great War which discusses the development of writing and historical research of the subject.

David Stevenson 1914 - 1918 The History of the First World War is available in paperback but is a bit of a door stopper for someone new to the subject.

For the Western Front Nick Lloyd’s book of that title is also available as an audiobook

 

 

[Resurgam13]

Although originally published in the 1930s, I've also thought Cruttwell's "A History of the Great War 1914-1918" to be one of the best single-volume accounts. Easily obtainable in paperback (or, for not very much at all, 1930s hardback editions).

[MaureenE]

The following is available as an audiobook of 28 hours.

A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914 to 1918 by G J Meyer published 2006

https://audiobookstore.com/audiobooks/a-world-undone.aspx 

This Amazon link says you can get a free trial with  Audiobook https://www.amazon.com/World-Undone-Story-Great-1914/dp/B0B645HV5C. There are also a number of reviews on the Amazon page.

There are sample pages available on Google Books to give you an idea of the book, where it is described as a "popular history". One of the reviews quoted says "a very readable account"

https://books.google.com/books?id=6RszhVmlt1gC 

Maureen

[simond9x]

Thanks to everyone who's taken the time to reply to this. There have been some good suggestions..... I hadn't thought of podcasts. I actually recommended Peter Hart's audio book on the Great War to my son. I hadn't read or listened to it myself but, having read others of his, I thought it would be a good introduction. I hadn't researched it so, rather naively, assumed it would be Peter reading the book and that the veteran interviews would be the actual IWM recordings. I was somewhat disappointed to find that neither was the case and that the whole book was read by a single reader.

Anyway, thanks again to everyone.