by Keith Jeffrey (Bloomsbury, £25)
The history of the First World War, writes Keith Jeffery, “has quite literally got stuck in the mud and trenches of the Western Front.” In his kaleidoscopic narrative, Jeffery tells the global history of the war by fixing on a single year. His contention is that the events of 1916 were crucial for the entire 20th century.
It is no small achievement to fit so much diverse material and argument into a single fast-paced volume. The year begins with the evacuation of allied forces from Gallipoli and culminates in the murder of Rasputin. During the course of the year we are taken to familiar locations from the war—Verdun, the Somme and Jutland—but also to locations that tend to fall off the edge of our mental map of the war such as Romania, the Caucasus, Central Asia, China and East Africa. Along the way we encounter the US in the grip of a presidential election and Ireland in rebellion.
One of the most enjoyable aspects of 1916 is the way Jeffery makes connections between one corner of the planet and another, focusing on human stories rather than geopolitical convulsions. Again and again we encounter the war-weariness and exhaustion of people the world over. The year witnessed many rebellions against imperial control, from Dublin to Singapore, Sumatra to Turkestan.
In an enthralling account of violence in Central Asia, we perceive not only the cracks that were pulling apart the Russian Empire, but glimpse the leading edge of a hurricane that was about to engulf the old international order.
The history of the First World War, writes Keith Jeffery, “has quite literally got stuck in the mud and trenches of the Western Front.” In his kaleidoscopic narrative, Jeffery tells the global history of the war by fixing on a single year. His contention is that the events of 1916 were crucial for the entire 20th century.
It is no small achievement to fit so much diverse material and argument into a single fast-paced volume. The year begins with the evacuation of allied forces from Gallipoli and culminates in the murder of Rasputin. During the course of the year we are taken to familiar locations from the war—Verdun, the Somme and Jutland—but also to locations that tend to fall off the edge of our mental map of the war such as Romania, the Caucasus, Central Asia, China and East Africa. Along the way we encounter the US in the grip of a presidential election and Ireland in rebellion.
One of the most enjoyable aspects of 1916 is the way Jeffery makes connections between one corner of the planet and another, focusing on human stories rather than geopolitical convulsions. Again and again we encounter the war-weariness and exhaustion of people the world over. The year witnessed many rebellions against imperial control, from Dublin to Singapore, Sumatra to Turkestan.
In an enthralling account of violence in Central Asia, we perceive not only the cracks that were pulling apart the Russian Empire, but glimpse the leading edge of a hurricane that was about to engulf the old international order.
