Pity of War, The - Softcover

The Pity of War, with no pretensions to offering a grand narrative of the war, goes over its chosen questions like a polemical tract. As such it is immensely readable, well researched, and controversial. You may not end up agreeing with all of Ferguson's arguments, but that should not deter you from reading it. All of us need our deeply held views challenged from time to time, even if only to remind us why we've got them. --John Crace, Amazon.co.uk

"I know of no other account of the First World War that does such a convincing job of explaining the war and bringing its grim realities to life." --David Clay Large, author of Where Ghosts Walked: Munich's Road to the Third Reich

"Innovative and imaginative (in the best sense), this bold reassessment of World War I asks questions that are too rarely asked - including what may be most anguishing of all: Did the war have to be a world war? Was it truly the greatest error of modern history?" --Rob Cowley, founding editor, MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History.

"The Pity of War is lucid, lively, and continually thought-provoking. It gives fresh answers to old questions about World War I, and raises some new questions. It is hard to put down and harder to forget." --Ernest May, Harvard University

"The Pity of War is the most important and controversial book about World War I in many years. In this splendidly researched, well-written, and deeply personal book, Oxford historial Niall Ferguson shatters many long-held beliefs about Britain's role." --Carlo W. D'Este, author of Patton and Bitter Victory

"The Pity of War for the first time brings the carnage of 1914-18 into sharp, unmystified focus. This is analytical history at its mordant best. With all its other merits, The Pity of War is also a work of grace and feeling." --The Economist