Steven Pope & Elizabeth-Anne Wheal, The Dictionary of the First World War, New York, St. Martin's Press, 1995 Pp. xxviii, 561.

There are many books addressing The entire First World War most are broad sweeping, general accounts of the "War to end all Wars." Most of these general accounts make good reading, but often very poor reference. The problem is that to get (much less find) a concise report on any given subject one must play "index-tag," "footnote-flip," and then eventually go to the more relevant source on a specific subject or battle. What one really needs to know (from trivial to major) seems to always be in some other book.

The Dictionary of the First World War is that other book. This very recent publication stands out as an essential and comprehensive source-book for The Great War. It is more than just a dictionary, providing specific data such as what type of bayonet the Turks used, it handily addresses broader subjects such as the significance of the war in the 20th century. As the introduction states it:

Apart from a few well-used sepia images, varying from culture to culture but sharing a simple recognition of pointless carnage, the First World War is now largely forgotten by non-specialists, consigned to the vague area that is popular history before Hitler. Yet the outbreak of the Great War in 1914 was, if any single event can be so described, the moment at which the 20th century was born. In social, political, economic, and military terms it marked the end of the confident 'Age of Progress' dominated by great European empires, and its passage by great European empires, and its passage introduced a new world order, familiar to the modern mind but unforeseen in almost every respect by the men who had unleashed it.

The Dictionary of the First World War claims to "represent the perspective of a new generation of historians." While other such broader sources are mostly focused on the Western Front, just mentioning theaters of Mesopotamia, Gallipoli and the Atlantic, this "new perspective" seeks to view the War as a "pan-European - and global - conflict." As a result this work gives equal concentration to the American, French, German, British, Italian, Russian, Turkish and Austro-Hungarian experiences - and also includes the many other nations and peoples brought into the war.

Among the authors' other reference works is the critically acclaimed: Dictionary of the Second World War. Again drawing from an expert team of accomplished historians and Great War specialists, The Dictionary of the First World War brings a unique combination of expertise together. This provides an exceptional understanding of what true impact the decade the First World War, illustrated in the following excerpt, placed on human history:

Political extremism, dictatorship, racism, feminism, mass production, air travel, administrative centralization, economic globalization, artificial fertilizers, movies... the 20th century as we know it was fully underway by 1919, but the last acts of war and the first months of peace were dominated by a grim reminder of the past. After perhaps 20 million people had been killed by the fighting and 'collateral damage' of the War, a global influenza pandemic reached Europe from the east in 1918. By late the following year it had killed an estimated 70 million worldwide, a final epitaph to the lost Age of Progress, and to its illusion of human control over natural forces and resources.

Vitally important for historians, collectors, wargamers, reenactors, and travel enthusiasts, there are over 1200 cross- referenced entries, complimented by a vivid day-by-day chronology and numerous detailed original maps. This makes for an easily understood combination of facts, narrative and analysis. The topics include: THEATERS OF WAR ("from the Baltic to the Balkins, from Africa to the Arctic"); FIGHTERS AND COMMANDERS ("from Abdullah Ibn Hussein to Sergeant York via Pershing, Pilsudski and Petain"). POLITICS AND DIPLOMACY from "Wilhelm II to Woodrow Wilson, from the July Crisis to Versailles;" HOME FRONTS from "the Armenian massacres to the Amiens Dispatch, from Albania to Australia, from women to socialism." For the collector and hardware hobbyist WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENTS from "balloons and bayonets to battlecruisers and Big Bertha" are included.

For the wargamer every action from "Achi Baba to the Zeebrugge Raid, from the Falkland Islands to the Masurian Lakes" is included. For campaign analysis: CAMPAIGNS from the "Arab Revolt to Verdun, from East Africa to East Prussia" are covered, along with adequate charts of troops, organization, and orders of battle in FORCES from "the Romanian Navy to the Royal Flying Corps, from the South Persia Rifles to the Serbian Army.;" and also: TACTICS AND STRATEGIES from "submarine warfare to sniping, from the Schlieffen Plan to strategic bombing, breakthrough and blockade."

The Dictionary of the First World serves as a wide-ranging guide encompassing every perspective of total warfare - the battles, commanders, weapons, tactics and strategies - and incorporates an analyses of the vast political, social and economic situation.

If you only have one book on this war, have this one. If you have many books on this war, you library is incomplete without this one. The next time somebody tries to tell you that there were only 1,000 English troops allied with the Russians in "Dunster Force" during the 1917 Campaign in Persia, you can correct him on the spot. With the help of The Dictionary of the Great War (page 138) you can readily point out that the 1,000 was actually made up of British, Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand troops!

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