Sometimes towed the line between enough detail and too much; and sometimes my mind wandered. But, overall, a solid background for the whole of a multifaceted event that I have to write on for class - will be a good resource.

Solid one volume history. Paints with a broad brush and makes some statements assumed to be facts without supporting evidence but doesn't detract from the overall sufficiency of the work as intended.

Not amazing, not boring, nothing particularly special, but well written.

It gives an excellent overview for a single-volume treatment of an extremely complicated event. However, it suffers from its own success in that regard, leaving many topics with only their surfaces scratched. As a quick introduction to inspire further reading on topics of interest, it's great. As a definitive account of WWI, it obviously falls flat (though it's doubtful that anyone would expect this book to be definitive).

An incredibly informative, insightful and decidedly neutral overview of the first world war. I really enjoyed this book and appreciated how approachable Strachan's writing made the subject matter. My only criticism were the maps! Seeing as Europe has been cut up and renamed a number of times more detailed, time line maps would have been greatly appreciated in order to understand the areas that existed and he was referring to.

A great book for novices who are seeking an introductory book on the 'great war'.

A good overview of the war in all theaters. I appreciated that the book wasn't just about troop movements and that he considered the war as it affected non-European nations.

One should have a little background in WW1 before attempting this book. Still, with all its detail, the history Strachan presents is very accessible. New angle to me: the Allies, in working to protect liberal democracy, had to adopt some pretty authoritative measures to do so; the trick, of course, is getting that genie back in the bottle. The audio is well delivered, but the book has great photos (even a batch of colored photos) and the photo captions have some cheekiness. Note: finished on Armistice Day.

Pretty decent one-volume history of the war, although the author's style often got in the way of any transfer of knowledge