"Catastrophe 1914: Europe Goes to War" by Max Hastings 1st/1st HC/DJ 2013

Description: "Catastrophe 1914: Europe Goes to War" was written by Max Hastings and published by Alfred A. Knopf in New York in 2013.This is a hardcover, first edition, first printing of this authoritative and comprehensive 628-page history by the highly respected British author, journalist and historian who won the Pritzker Military Library's Literature Award and its accompanying $100,000 prize, given for lifetime achievement in military writing.The book is further enhanced by more than four-dozen superlative black-and-white period photographs, illustrations and maps.The original price, as shown on the dustjacket front flap, was $35.00.From the reviews:“A highly readable narrative that should--but won’t be--the last word on the subject.”--New York Times And from the dustjacket blurb:“From the acclaimed military historian, a new history of the outbreak of World War I: the dramatic stretch from the breakdown of diplomacy to the battles—the Marne, Ypres, Tannenberg—that marked the frenzied first year before the war bogged down in the trenches.“In ‘Catastrophe 1914,’ Max Hastings gives us a conflict different from the familiar one of barbed wire, mud and futility. He traces the path to war, making clear why Germany and Austria-Hungary were primarily to blame, and describes the gripping first clashes in the West, where the French army marched into action in uniforms of red and blue with flags flying and bands playing.“In August, four days after the French suffered 27,000 men dead in a single day, the British fought an extraordinary holding action against oncoming Germans, one of the last of its kind in history. In October, at terrible cost, the British held the allied line against massive German assaults in the first battle of Ypres. Hastings also re-creates the lesser-known battles on the Eastern Front, brutal struggles in Serbia, East Prussia and Galicia, where the Germans, Austrians, Russians and Serbs inflicted three million casualties upon one another by Christmas.“As he has done in his celebrated, award-winning works on World War II, Hastings gives us frank assessments of generals and political leaders and masterly analyses of the political currents that led the continent to war. He argues passionately against the contention that the war was not worth the cost, maintaining that Germany's defeat was vital to the freedom of Europe. “Throughout we encounter statesmen, generals, peasants, housewives and private soldiers of seven nations in Hastings's accustomed blend of top-down and bottom-up accounts: generals dismounting to lead troops in bayonet charges over 1,500 feet of open ground; farmers who at first decried the requisition of their horses; infantry men engaged in a haggard retreat, sleeping four hours a night in their haste. This is a vivid new portrait of how a continent became embroiled in war and what befell millions of men and women in a conflict that would change everything.”The book is in fine, collectible condition, with no torn or bent pages, no scratches, stains or inscriptions, no remainder marks, no price-clipping, no bookplate, no ex-library, no book club edition, no flaws of any sort. It is as new.The dustjacket is in equally fine shape and is protected in a clear and removable archival cover.Please see the photos for a fuller description and author profile.BOX W2PLEASE SEE THE OTHER TITLES NOW LISTED IN MY EBAY STORE: DISTANT VOYAGE BOOKSPAYPAL PREFERREDWill combine shipping.All items are well packed and are normally mailed within two days of payment being received.My 100% feedback rating is valuable to me. If you are satisfied with a transaction, please leave feedback and I will do the same.Questions welcome. Additional photographs on request.Note: Scrolling through my listings will locate books in these and many other categories:Animals; Art & Architecture; Biography; Children’s; Collecting & Collectibles; Entertainment, Film & Theater; Fiction; Food & Drink; Gardening; History; Military; Music; Natural History; Nautical; Photography; Science & Technology; Travel; Space; Sports; Transportation. New Listings added almost daily.

Price: 20 USD

Location: Yorba Linda, California

End Time: 2025-01-25T22:52:41.000Z

Shipping Cost: 5 USD