by G. J. Meyer
First published 2015
In the summer of 1914, nineteen-year-old Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip raises his pistol and fires at Archduke Franz Ferdinand on a Sarajevo street. The shots echo across a continent where massive armies wait and political tensions simmer beneath the surface. Within weeks, the assassination triggers a cascade of declarations and mobilizations. Austro-Hungarian forces march toward Serbia while German divisions stream toward Paris. Russia's enormous army mobilizes as England joins the conflict. Cheering crowds send their soldiers off to what everyone believes will be a brief, glorious campaign. Instead, Europe plunges into four years of unprecedented carnage. Trenches stretch across the Western Front as millions die in futile attacks. The war consumes not just soldiers but entire societies, draining nations of their youth and resources. What began as a localized crisis becomes a global catastrophe that reshapes the world. The civilization that had dominated the planet for centuries teeters on the edge of collapse, exhausted by its own violence and ambition.
Genres: history, 20th-century, military-history, world-war-i
Vibes: suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: historical-events, political-intrigue
Setting: Sarajevo, Europe
Period: 1914
778 pages · Paperback · Bantam Books