Overview

This thoroughly revised edition has been updated to incorporate recent case studies, biographies, syntheses, journal articles and scholarly conferences that appeared in conjunction with the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War in 2014. The original version of this work, published by James Joll in 1984, quickly became established as the authoritative introduction to the subject of the war’s origins. Significantly expanded by Gordon Martel in 2007, this volume continues to offer a careful, clear, and comprehensive evaluation of the multitude of explanations advanced to explain the causes of the cataclysm of 1914, addressing each of the major interpretive approaches to the subject, with essay-like chapters addressing the alliance system, militarism and strategy, the international economy, imperial rivalries, the role of domestic politics and the ‘mood’ of 1914. This edition offers an extensive new introduction, a new conclusion (including ‘ten fateful choices’ that led to war), an entirely new chapter on the July Crisis, and a vastly expanded Guide to Further Reading. Covering over a century of controversy and scholarship, The Origins of the First World War is a valuable resource for all students and scholars interested in this major conflict.

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9781138846357

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Reviews

Praise for this edition: 'Martel's mastery of a seemingly insurmountable volume of scholarship is impressive and remarkable. His expertly updated classic account makes sense of a century of explanations. If you read only one book on the origins of the First World War, it should be this one.' Annika Mombauer, The Open University, UK 'It is a great pleasure to see a fourth edition of this classic introduction to the origins of the First World War. The new edition maintains the valuable thematic structure of the original, but supplements it with a new chapter on the July Crisis and an expanded bibliographical introduction and guide to further reading that incorporate the remarkable additions to the literature which accompanied the centenary in 2014.' David Stevenson, London School of Economics & Political Science, UK Praise for previous editions: 'Gordon Martel has done the impossible: he has made James Joll's The Origins of the First World War once more the premium study on why war came in 1914. Martel has not simply updated Joll's contribution but enhanced and improved it. A triumph of both scholarship and editorial talent; James Joll would have been pleased.' Samuel R. Williamson Jr., University of the South, USA 'Probably the best comprehensive history of the origins of World War I available in the English language. Gordon Martel's [revision] will make certain that the book's deep insights will continue to captivate and inspire future generations of students and others interested in the Great War.' Volker Berghahn, Columbia University, USA '...this scholarly, comprehensive and subtle analysis should be made compulsory reading for all students of the period and, most of all, for the decision makers of today.' John F.V. Keiger, History

Praise for this edition: ‘Martel’s mastery of a seemingly insurmountable volume of scholarship is impressive and remarkable. His expertly updated classic account makes sense of a century of explanations. If you read only one book on the origins of the First World War, it should be this one.’ Annika Mombauer, The Open University, UK ‘It is a great pleasure to see a fourth edition of this classic introduction to the origins of the First World War. The new edition maintains the valuable thematic structure of the original, but supplements it with a new chapter on the July Crisis and an expanded bibliographical introduction and guide to further reading that incorporate the remarkable additions to the literature which accompanied the centenary in 2014.’ David Stevenson, London School of Economics & Political Science, UK Praise for previous editions: ‘Gordon Martel has done the impossible: he has made James Joll’s The Origins of the First World War once more the premium study on why war came in 1914. Martel has not simply updated Joll’s contribution but enhanced and improved it. A triumph of both scholarship and editorial talent; James Joll would have been pleased.’ Samuel R. Williamson Jr., University of the South, USA ‘Probably the best comprehensive history of the origins of World War I available in the English language. Gordon Martel’s [revision] will make certain that the book’s deep insights will continue to captivate and inspire future generations of students and others interested in the Great War.’ Volker Berghahn, Columbia University, USA ‘…this scholarly, comprehensive and subtle analysis should be made compulsory reading for all students of the period and, most of all, for the decision makers of today.’ John F.V. Keiger, History

Author Information

James Joll (1918-1994) was a distinguished historian of international history at St Antony’s College, Oxford and as Stevenson Professor at the University of London. He was the author of numerous works on anarchism and socialism as well as Europe since 1870: an international history (1973). Gordon Martel is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Northern British Columbia and Adjunct Professor at the University of Victoria. He is the author of numerous works on international history, including The Month that Changed the World: July 1914 (2014) and editor of the four-volume Encyclopedia of Diplomacy.

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