Kurt's Reviews > A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914 to 1918

Wow. This took me almost two months to finish. Yes, it was long -- over 700 pages, and it was very detailed and complex in telling a very intricate and complex story, and, yes, I had a lot going on in the way of vacations and travels over the past two months. But the main reason it took me so long to finish was because the story was fascinating and I really wanted to be reasonably well-informed about the Great War upon completion of this book.

Like probably most Americans, my knowledge of World War I was limited to a few depictions in movies and TV shows with a WWI setting. I don't believe I ever learned a single thing about it in all my schooling. The little that I had read about it (like the novels "Johnny Got His Gun" and "All Quiet on the Western Front") left me bewildered. What in hell were they fighting about that was worth the destruction and devastation of the lives of so many millions of young men and their families, along with the devastation and disruption of entire societies and civilizations and even the landscape?

I am so glad I read this book to help answer these questions for me. It still boggles my mind that this war was fought with such intensity by so many factions. A big thanks to my Goodreads friend, David Eppenstein, who recommended it to me. I'm now looking forward to reading a follow-up book, "The World Remade", by the same author and even more highly recommended by Mr. Eppenstein.