Catastrophe: Europe Goes to War 1914. Max Hastings

if any region today could cause a crisis comparable to that of 1914, it is the Middle East. They need a new book on the outbreak of World War I, and now they have it in Catastrophe. [Hastings is] an outstanding historian … a victorious foray’

      HEW STRACHAN, New York Times

      ‘A magisterial, sweeping narrative … blisteringly caustic about the failures of Britain’s ossified high command … Reading Hastings, you often get the feeling that he should have been there at the crucial staff conferences. Catastrophe is yet another achievement to add to his previous triumphs’

       Literary Review

      ‘A typically thrilling combination of verve and scholarship. He paints on the broadest possible canvas while retaining an eagle eye for the illuminating life, the singular experience, the remark that brings alive the stupidity, the courage and, above all, the confusion’

       The Times

      ‘Hastings does an excellent job of assembling a chronicle of the war’s first few months … and skilfully marshals evidence assembled by several generations of scholars into a highly readable narrative that should be the last word on the subject’

       New York Times Book Review

      ‘Immensely readable epic history’

      PATRICIA NICHOL, Metro, Books of the Year

      ‘Max Hastings easily saw off his rivals in the battle for the First World War centenary market … old-fashioned military history, shamefully readable’

      Observer, Books of the Year

      ‘Does the world need another book on that dismal year? Absolutely, if it’s by Hastings … Readers accustomed to Hastings’ vivid battle descriptions, incisive anecdotes from all participants, and shrewd, often unsettling opinions will not be disappointed. Among the plethora of brilliant accounts of this period, this is one of the best’

       Kirkus

      ‘Authoritative and immensely readable’

       Prospect

      ‘If you’re going to read only one history of World War I, the chances are this is going to be it. Hastings is blistering about the incompetence of the commanders-in-chief on all sides. However it’s Hastings’ depiction of the cost of the war on the soldiers and their families that really gives Catastrophe its power’

      JOHN PRESTON, Daily Mail, Books of the Year

      ‘This excellent chronicle of World War I’s first months dispels some popular myths’

       New York Times

      ‘Writing with marvelous cogency and trenchancy … a valuable contribution’

      PIERS BRENDON, Independent

      ‘Invites consideration as the best in his distinguished career, combining a perceptive analysis of the Great War’s beginnings with a vivid account of the period from August to September of the titular year’

       Publishers Weekly

      ‘Admirable in its scope and vividly told’

       Independent on Sunday

      ‘Truly a masterpiece. What [Hastings] does, in the same absorbing style that we enjoyed in All Hell Let Loose, is to explain how the Great Powers got into it, and he does so with commendable clarity … The extent of his research is truly impressive … a book that is as enjoyable to read as it is important historically’

       Country Life

       Dedication

      For

       PENNY who does the real work

      Contents

       Cover

       Title Page

Copyright

Praise

Dedication

List of Illustrations

List of Maps

Introduction

1914 Chronology

The Organisation of Armies in 1914

Prologue: SARAJEVO

1. ‘A Feeling that Events are in the Air’

1. CHANGE AND DECAY

2. BATTLE PLANS

2. The Descent to War

1. THE AUSTRIANS THREATEN

2. THE RUSSIANS REACT

3. THE GERMANS MARCH

4. THE BRITISH DECIDE

3. ‘The Superb Spectacle of the World Bursting Into Flames’

1. MIGRATIONS

2. PASSIONS

       3. DEPARTURES

       4. Disaster on the Drina

       5. Death with Flags and Trumpets

       1. THE EXECUTION OF PLAN XVII

       2. ‘GERMAN BEASTLINESS’

       3. LANREZAC ENCOUNTERS SCHLIEFFEN

       6. The British Fight