With unusual clarity and "from the trenches" insights, this book explores in detail the complexities of the origins, course, and momentous effects of World War I. It focuses not only on the grand scale of the war, but on its everyday realities for the common soldier and the civilian populations on the Western, Eastern, and other fronts. Explores the military and non-military aspects of the War and its causes. Synthesizes various analyses and interpretations of the many controversies of the war. Includes insights from the most recent literature on the role of women in the conflict; the war in the air; the Armenian Genocide; the assassination of Archduke Francis Ferdinand; Total War and the Home Fronts. Contains a graphic, in-depth account of the appalling existence of soldiers at the front -- including not only the horrors of battle, but the oppressive psychological impact of life in the trenches. Features a large number of maps and lively biographical sketches of important figures. For anyone interested in World War I, Military History, 20th Century Europe.