In my quest to learn more about World War I, I started with "The Guns of August" -- a great book in itself -- which comes to an abrupt stop in August 1914, when the war of movement ends and the war of trenches begins. I wanted to know, "What happened next"? Keegan's one volume history offers a thorough answer to that question.

Keegan is first and foremost a military historian and the narrative is framed by the war's great battles -- including those of 1914. But he includes enough political and social context to paint a complete picture of why things progressed as they did. The Western Front is very well covered but Keegan also sheds light on the lesser known (and just as horrific) events in the East and South (Italy). Other theaters, particularly the Middle East and Turkey (Gallipoli) are covered more lightly.

Keegan's prose is a bit florid and took some getting used to, but his summation of the war in the closing pages (which is not to be missed) is quite elegant. Main drawback, as with so much military history, is the maps -- not enough detail and hard to read, at least in the paperback version.