{"product_id":"book-2v99","title":"THE FIRST WORLD WAR A Five-Volume Series VOLUME I 1914: The Guns of August","description":"\u003ch1\u003eTHE FIRST WORLD WAR\u003c\/h1\u003e\u003ch3\u003eVOLUME I — 1914: THE GUNS OF AUGUST\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eQuentin Drummond Anderson\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom the bestselling author of \u003cem\u003eThe Fearless Fifteen\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eLions and Foxes\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Same Country\u003c\/em\u003e comes an ambitious five-volume history of the First World War.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAt eleven o'clock on 11 November 1918, the guns fell silent. This is the story of how it started.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the summer of 1914, Europe stood at the height of its power. Its empires spanned the globe. Its royal families were connected by blood. Its generals believed that any war would be swift.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWithin weeks, those assumptions lay in ruins.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBeginning with the world that made Sarajevo so dangerous, Quentin Drummond Anderson traces the forces driving Europe towards catastrophe: German unification, Bismarck's diplomacy, Kaiser Wilhelm II, the naval arms race, the Balkan Wars and the alliances dividing the continent.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThen, on 28 June 1914, two shots in Sarajevo ignite a chain reaction.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Blank Cheque. The July Crisis. Mobilisation. The Schlieffen Plan. The invasion of Belgium. Britain's declaration of war.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd then the slaughter begins.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMons. Tannenberg. The Marne. First Ypres.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMillions march to war expecting victory by Christmas. Instead, they encounter machine guns, devastating artillery and casualties on an unimaginable scale.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBy December, the illusion of a short war is dead.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eYet on Christmas Day, soldiers emerge from opposing trenches to exchange greetings, cigarettes and gifts. For a few extraordinary hours, humanity interrupts the killing.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWE KNOW WHAT HAPPENED. THEY DIDN'T.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHistory is lived forwards, without the certainty of hindsight.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCombining political intrigue, military history and deeply human stories, \u003cem\u003e1914: The Guns of August\u003c\/em\u003e recreates the year Europe's old order began to destroy itself.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTHE FIRST WORLD WAR — A FIVE-VOLUME HISTORY\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e1914 — The Guns of August\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e1915 | 1916 | 1917 | 1918\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA companion to Anderson's seven-volume history of the Second World War, together forming a twelve-volume narrative of the two world wars.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"INAudio","offers":[{"title":"Audiobook","offer_id":68238612398384,"sku":"BD2v99","price":12.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0879\/2784\/9264\/files\/2v99-Square-cover.webp?v=1793644443","url":"https:\/\/downpour.com\/products\/book-2v99","provider":"Downpour","version":"1.0","type":"link"}