|
| 
 enlarge | Author: Robert K. Massie
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Category: Book
List Price: $21.95
Buy Used: $2.50
You Save: $19.45 (89%)
New (16) Used (70) from $2.50
Avg. Customer Rating:  78 reviews
Sales Rank: 162093
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 1040
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.4
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.9
ISBN: 0345375564
Dewey Decimal Number: 940.311
EAN: 9780345375568
ASIN: 0345375564
Publication Date: September 15, 1992
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
|
| Customer Reviews:
 An epic of immense proportions. June 2, 2007
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
It was the First World War - known at that time as "The Great War" which changed Britain and Europe forever. As the Generals on both sides sent millions and millions of men to their deaths in the carnage which they regarded as warfare, there came about a change in the psyche of the British male - a change which would herald a complete alteration in the way he thought and acted towards those of the upper, ruling classes. No longer would that British male be so quick to use such words as "M'Lord" or even "Sir." No longer would he doff his cap as a mark of respect, no longer would the ordinary police Constable be so quick to "arrest that man" just because a well dressed person had ordered him so to do.
That change in British Society continues to this day and is easily traced back to the feelings of loss and despair which came with the realisation that far too many young men had died "at the front" - even though the war itself had been won and mainland Britain had escaped unscathed.
In this epic tale, author Robert Massie delves deep into why that war occurred in the first place. Every single aspect of argument and behaviour on both sides (both military and political) is exposed and analysed. As the title of the book would suggest, the theme is the world's first great arms race. When Britain produced the first Dreadnought Battleship it rendered all other battleships obsolete at a stroke (including the remainder of the British Fleet!). From that moment onwards it was always a question of who could produce the most new Dreadnoughts in the quickest possible time. Set against this wish by both Britain and Germany to be seen as the world's supreme masters of the seas was a political intrigue which few have been able to commit to print in such a masterly fashion as is found in this book.
In short, this is one of the greatest books of our time. It is also a damn fine read.
NM
A history book characterized by a superb literary readability. March 18, 2007
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Dreadnought is a delightful book for readers of different backgrounds thanks to its author's masterful literary style. Historians will most probably pick up what are supposed to be its flaws, such as the Library Journal's review. Yes, I agree with the reviewer: such topic is too complex because "The British and German systems were too complicated and too democratic to respond to a biographical focus". But when I think of History in all its complexity and multifaceted possible approaches, an author whom is capable of going far beyond what the title of his book and to stimulate the reader to further research of a critical moment of recent history, this alone is more than laudable. Mr. Massie created an outstanding book which may even be misleading in its title: for those not acquainted with naval history, the title Dreadnought may be almost meaningless, but the work will fascinate almost anyone interested in the history of XX Century because it makes several points more clear to the general reader: the complex implications of German unification under Bismark and the radical changes in world's economy already underway at that time. The reader will notice that the U.S. industrial strength and pace of development was a factor largely unknown and/or grossly underestimated by European powers. As an attempt to be brief and thorough: this book is extremely successful in its goals. There is not a single book capable to describe the complexities of Europe during and after Chancellor Bismark until World War I. But this book is really helpful and mostly pleasant to stimulate the reader with a fascinating approach. At the same time, what a historian may consider a book overtly focused on biographies actually may be a revealing source about many protagonists such as Kaiser William II and many other outstanding figures of that era, not to mention the antisemitism thriving in German society at that time. I highly recommend this book to all readers interested not only in military, but in contemporary History.
Edward the Caresser Meets the Hun January 17, 2007
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
An excellent read. Very well written as we might expect from Robert Massie. I enjoyed it very much and lost countless hours reading late into the night.
A warning: this book is extremely anglo-centric. Those who are looking for a balanced handling of these matters should keep this in mind. The only way to get a balanced accounting of the genesis of WW1 in English is to read widely including the revisionist texts that are heavily discounted by most British and American scholars. This is quite a large task.
Massie tells the story of the run up to the war largely through the device of using narrative accounts of the major political and diplomatic events in Britain and Germany, mostly presented through biographical sketches of their politicians, diplomats and admirals. This makes for fun reading. The book reads like a novel and you get a good idea of the characters of the main players. It's Massie's unabashed admiration of King Edward VII that skews the book however. Edward was not as wise and insightful as the author makes him and Wilhelm was not as flightly and spiteful or motivated by feelings of inferiority.
Dreadnought almost completely ignores economic and social history. There is nothing at all about the working class movements in either country. This is a major weakness. I suppose his desire to tell the tale strictly in a narrative fashion limits the usefulness of statistical data and scholarly exposition. A book I mentioned above, The Arming of Europe and the Making of the First World War can be of great service in filling in some of these gaps.
Part two describes British politics and foreign policy up to 1905. I found this the most interesting section of the book - but I'm a political junkie. Again Massie uses sketches of politicians such as Salisbury, Balfour, Joseph Chamberlain and Landsdowne, accompanied by accounts of the "Khaki election" and the dispute over Imperial preference which split the Unionist government. Massie highlights the diplomatic ruptures with Germany - over the Jameson raid and the Krueger telegram, Samoa, and the Boer war. All of this culminates in the breakdown of Chamberlain's tentative Anglo-German alliance negotiations, and leads to the creation of the Anglo-French entente (despite the dispute over Fashoda), and its first test during the Morocco crisis.
Navalists and battleship buffs who might be attracted to this book by its title, will find part three much to their interest. Unfortunately they have to wade through a whole lot of biography to get there. Again this part of the book suffers from its anglo-centric point of view. Very little information about the German fleet is provided (for example, while the problems with inadequate armour on the British battle cruisers are mentioned, the far superior ability of German ships to withstand damage is not). The primary focus is still biographical, with Fisher and, to a lesser extent, his rival Lord Beresford claiming most of the stage.
Parts four and five continue the story up to the outbreak of war. Massie goes into much detail telling the story of the rise of the Liberals, and the Reform Bill and the emasculating of the House of Lords by use of crude threats by Asquith. Churchill and more importantly, Sir Edward Grey come into their own in this section of the book. I thought Massie's handling of Grey's failure to keep the British cabinet informed of European developments, even though he was monitoring continental communiques, was well done. Even so, in Massie's hands it is still hard to see Grey for what he really is - a villain no less than Austrian foreign minister Count Berchtold and France's man in Saint Petersburg, Ambassador Paleologue.
The book ends with Grey's famous coda on his age, 'The lamps are going out all over Europe. We shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.' This is only fitting because Sir Edward had much to do with the extinguishing of those lamps. All in all a fine but flawed book and I enjoyed it very much with certain reservations.
The best in world war 1 December 19, 2006
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
Robert Massie always tells a good story and he does not fail to deliver here. This tells how World War 1 started and the arms race that launched the battle. Despite the title this book does not focus only on the naval buildup and goes into many other factors. Foreign policy in Africa and the Balkans are addressed as well as internal political struggles in Britain. The research is exhaustive and it is very well written. If you are looking for a good account of World War 1 this is the best place to start. Highly recommend.
"A Big War and It Will Start In The East" August 3, 2006
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Probably, along with The Guns of August, one of the best books
on the events leading up to WWI. Goes back into 19th century
Europe to put the pieces together to complete the puzzle that
ended in the outbreak of war in 1914. I wore out my first
copy and am now on my second.
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
