Shaker
Library
Nonfiction
The Assassination of the Archduke:
Sarajevo 1914 and the Romance that
Changed the World by Greg King and
Sue Woolmans. St. Martin’s Press, 2013.
The author draws on unpublished letters
and other rare primary sources to trace
the story of the tragic romance and brutal
assassination that led to World War I,
exploring rumors of Serbian complicity,
conspiracy, and official negligence that
doomed the Archduke and his family.
The Great War: A Combat History of the
First World War by Peter Hart. Oxford
University Press, 2013. Focusing on the
decisive engagements of World War I,
the author explores the immense challenges
faced by the commanders and
offers his own assessment on what
brought about the war’s outcome.
Hundred Days: The Campaign that
Ended World War I by Nick Lloyd.
Basic Books, 2014. The difficult and
bloody four-month Hundred Days
Campaign tipped the stalemate on
the Western Front in favor of the
Allies in 1918 and drove back the
Germans, bringing the war to an end.
The Making of the First World War
by I. F. W. Beckett. Yale University
Press, 2012. From the flooding of
Belgium’s fields to the picture palaces
of Britain’s cinema, from the idealism
16 SHAKERONLINE.COM | SUMMER 2014
The Bookshelf: Recent Books About the Great War
This year we observe the 100th anniversary of World War I,
which saw an estimated 10 million military deaths and another 20 million wounded.
Many hoped it would be “the war to end all wars. ” However, its peace treaty
actually set the stage for World War II.
of Wilson’s Washington to the German Lys
offensive of 1918, the author examines
events from World War I that continue to
shape the world.
The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to
War in 1914 by Christopher M. Clark.
Harper, 2013. This authoritative chronicle
draws on new research about World War I
and traces the path to war in a minute-byminute
narrative that examines the decades
of history that informed the events of 1914.
Verdun: The Lost History of the Most
Important Battle of World War I
1914-1918 by John Mosier. Penguin
Group, 2013. Drawing on the accounts of
military analysts, examination of battle
plans, and recollections of serving officers
and eyewitnesses, a revisionist historian
presents a new view of one of the greatest
battles in history.
Fiction
The Cartographer of No Man’s Land
by P. S. Duffy. Liveright Publishing
Corporation, 2013. When his beloved
brother-in-law goes missing at the front in
1916, Angus defies his pacifist upbringing
to join the war to find him. Assured a
position as a cartographer in London, he
is instead sent into battle. Meanwhile, at
home, his son Simon Peter must navigate
escalating hostility in a fishing village torn
apart by grief.