A Short History of the Great War

"A Short History of the Great War" by A. F. (Albert Frederick) Pollard is a recount of World War I, written in the early 1900s, digging into the war's origins, biggest fights, and how politics shaped the conflict. The book gives a big picture view of what caused the war and its most important times, starting with when Archduke Francis Ferdinand was killed. The book kicks off by showing the complicated political mess that led to the war, zooming in on the Archduke's death and what came after. It talks about tough connections between countries like Austria-Hungary, Serbia, and Russia, along with other big European players, getting everything ready for the war. Pollard makes it clear that even though the assassination was super important, the hunger for military power, especially from Germany, really made things blow up into a huge war. The start of the book really gets across how heavy feelings like nationalism and the push for empire were, pointing at the war as a result of old arguments instead of just one bad thing that happened.