Catastrophe

Catastrophe traces the breakdown of European diplomacy in 1914 and the first months of the First World War. Max Hastings examines the July Crisis, mobilisation and the decisions of governments and monarchies before turning to the battles of movement that preceded the later trench stalemate, including the fighting in France, Belgium and East Prussia.

The book argues strongly about responsibility for the outbreak of war while also emphasising how badly political leaders and armies understood the conflict they were creating. Figures including Wilhelm II, Franz Joseph and Nicholas II appear alongside soldiers and civilians whose assumptions about a short war were destroyed by industrial firepower and enormous casualties. It is nonfiction political and military history.