"A stunning achievement of research and storytelling" that weaves together the major fronts of WWI into a single, sweeping narrative (Publishers Weekly, starred review). The Great War, which was to be the war to end all wars, began at 11:15 on the morning of June 28, 1914, in an outpost of the Austro-Hungarian Empire called Sarajevo. It would officially end nearly five years later, but its impact has never truly ceased, as many of the horrors we face today are rooted in the First World War.

Millions of civilians and soldiers were left maimed or dead as a result of this conflict. The war also saw the creation of new technologies of destruction, including tanks, planes, and submarines; machine guns and field artillery; and poison gas and chemical warfare. It introduced U-boat packs and strategic bombing, as well as the unrestricted war on civilians and the mistreatment of prisoners. However, the war's impact went far beyond these military advancements.

In the wake of the Great War, empires toppled, monarchies fell, and whole populations lost their national identities. As political systems and geographic boundaries were realigned, the social order underwent a seismic shift. Manners and cultural norms, literature and the arts, education and class distinctions – all underwent a vast sea change.

As historian Martin Gilbert demonstrates in this "majestic opus" of historical synthesis, the twentieth century can be said to have been born on that fateful morning in June of 1914 (Publishers Weekly, starred review). The Great War marked a turning point in history, one that would have far-reaching and enduring consequences. "One of the first books that anyone should read . . . to try to understand this war and this century," The New York Times Book Review aptly states.

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