Well-written accessible WWI book touching on all theaters, not just the Western Front. Excellent chapter chronicling the alliances, treaties and emotion that the assissination of the Archduke tested, and how the 6-week delay in action really set up the inevitable world war. The fall of the Russian monarchy and the rise of the soviet state and its struggles once Russia was out of the war was all facsinating - especially the bit about Czech soldiers commandeering the trans-Siberian railroad for passage EAST to Vladivostok in order to catch ships back to France in order to fight again. America's contribution was mentioned briefly; as a Yank I would have liked to hear more about the doughboys, but that is for another book I am sure. The importance of America's entry into the war and its ability to bring over millions of men was made clear by all the data of how depleted each side was, by 1917, of young men.