The Great War

Paper Summary:

The purpose of this paper is to introduce, discuss, and analyze the books "The Great War 1914-1918", by Cyril Falls, and "The Pity of War: Explaining World War I", by Niall Ferguson. The paper discusses how these two books, written 40 years apart, look at the war from different stages in history and from different perspectives. The paper analyzes how the authors graphically illustrate the First World War and what this war meant to the participants, the world, and to history in general. The paper examines how the books discuss emotional and personal themes, which makes them quite important for detailed research that adds another dimension to The Great War.

From the Paper:

"Ferguson, on the other hand, uses a different type of literary technique. He consistently relates events to works of literature that covered the war, from classics such as All Quiet on the Western Front and For Whom the Bell Tolls to lesser knows works, he consistently compares the actual events of the war to how their authors portrayed (and sometimes dramatized) them in literary works. For some readers, this might be more difficult to follow and identify with and understand. However, both books are extremely well written. They belong in any serious World War I library or historian's reference shelf."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Falls, Cyril. The Great War: 1914-1918. New York: Capricorn Books, 1959.
• Ferguson, Niall. The Pity of War. New York: Basic Books, 1999.

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