The Great War

The Great War. An Imperial History is a landmark new history that firmly places the First World War in the context of imperialism. It was the desire for empire, deeply engrained in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century politics, which sparked conflicts and then war. It also determined the war's boundaries and governed its course and outcome. The Great War was neither inexplicable nor unforeseen, and John Morrow strongly contests the notion of a prewar Belle Epoque, replacing it with a much bleaker picture of European society at the time. His compelling account moves away from a Eurocentric view of the Great War, giving due weight to the non-European people's impact on the conflict and paying attention to colonial settings of war. Book jacket.

John H. Morrow, Jr. is Franklin Professor of History at the University of Georgia. He specializes in the history of modern Europe and of warfare and society