G. J. Meyer’s A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914–1918 presents a comprehensive account of the First World War, from the political tensions that led to the crisis of 1914 to the armistice and collapse of Europe’s great empires. Written with clarity and close attention to the individuals involved, the book explains how a regional confrontation became a conflict of unprecedented scale.
The narrative follows the war across its principal fronts, including the Marne, Gallipoli, Verdun, the Somme, the Eastern Front, and the final campaigns of 1918. Meyer examines the decisions of monarchs, politicians, and generals alongside the experiences of the soldiers who endured artillery bombardments, trench warfare, disease, exhaustion, and repeated mass offensives.
Interspersed chapters provide the wider background needed to understand the conflict, exploring the ruling families of Europe, the growth of nationalism, military planning, new weapons, colonial empires, and the political systems of the combatant nations. This structure places the battles within the larger social and diplomatic world that produced them.
Softcover, 670 pages
