Dave Parkes

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's true what they say, Max Hastings is truly a master storyteller. He takes you on a journey and covers, in detail, the political, civil and military aspects of 1914 from the perspective of Russia, Germany, Austria-Hungary, UK, France and Serbia. He leaves no stone unturned. It's a brilliant book and I recommend it. I'd be inclined to give this book five stars, however, I have a slight bone to pick. Hastings writes in a way which will require you to grab your dictionary. I thought I had a very good hold on the English language, but when reading this, every 4-5 pages I had to look up words, such as 'uxurious'. It's almost as if Hastings has made it complicated for complication's sake. Hastings then goes one step further and assumes you have a basic understanding of French. He'll quote French generals and French newspaper headlines, yet provide no English translation. Apart from assuming everyone's on his academic and linguistic level - and trust me, I'm no slouch - this is a fantastic book. Buy the book, but buy a dictionary and French-English dictionary to accompany it.