The World Crisis, 1911-1918 | Winston S. Churchill | This book has two distinctly separate parts

The World Crisis, 1911-1918 | Winston S. Churchill | Not a casual read

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The World Crisis, ...

	The World Crisis, 1911-1918 Winston S. Churchill Free Press, 2005 - 880 pages average customer review:based on 9 reviews view larger image
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As first lord of the admiralty and minister for war and air, Churchill stood resolute at the center of international affairs. In this classic account, he dramatically details how the tides of despair and triumph flowed and ebbed as the political and military leaders of the time navigated the dangerous currents of world conflict.

Churchill vividly recounts the major campaigns that shaped the war: the furious attacks of the Marne, the naval maneuvers off Jutland, Verdun's "soul-stirring frenzy," and the surprising victory of Chemins des Dames. Here, too, he re-creates the dawn of modern warfare: the buzz of airplanes overhead, trench combat, artillery thunder, and the threat of chemical warfare. In Churchill's inimitable voice we hear how "the war to end all wars" instead gave birth to every war that would follow, including the current war in Iraq. Written with unprecedented flair and knowledge of the events, The World Crisis remains the single greatest history of World War I, essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand the twentieth century.

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This book has two distinctly separate parts

The first part covers 1914 to 1916 when Churchill was First Lord of the Admiralty. This is an apologia for Churchill's actions, especially the Dardanelles and Gallipoli campaigns. It's quite self-serving, for instance Churchill expressed surprise when Jackie Fisher resigned as First Sea Lord. If Churchill was surprised, he was in the minority, considering how loudly Fisher objected to the Dardanelles fiasco.

After Churchill was forced out of office and became a lieutenant colonel in the Royal Scots Fusiliers, the book was no longer written in the first person. It became a thought-provoking commentary on the last two years of the war. Churchill no longer had to justify his actions, and wrote an intelligent, knowledgeable discussion on the war. This second part of the book is well worth reading.

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Not a casual read

The World Crisis is as much a project to be undertaken as a book to read. Churchill approached his writing in much the same manner as his paintings, attempting to include as much color as possible. He once noted that he felt sorry for the color brown. This book strikes out to chronicle a complex and rapidly shifting period of time, and Churchill packs history with as much color and description as possible. Not a book for the casual reader, you need to both enjoy history and thoughtful prose.

Biased, overly wordy, but good insights

Winston S. Churchill played a key role in WWI. He made many of the important decisions, suffered many personal setbacks, and lived through the conflict rubbing shoulders with other formidable decision makers. This book tells the reader what the mind of Churchill was like. How he thought and how he managed the war at sea by preparation before the war and during the early part of the conflict, and the important job of munitions which he held for the last part of the war.

Churchill saw, with keen insight, that the tactics on the Western Front were doomed to failure and advised against the attacks from the earliest point. He also foresaw the danger of the submarine and planned for battling this weapon before he left the Admiralty and long before the ultimate sub attacks in 1917. In addition, he determined that the assault on the Dardanelles was key to winning the war against Germany and its allies. WSC was frustrated beyond measure with the incompetent attempts to battle through the straights, knock Turkey out of the war, and open a line of supply to Russia - who was on thin ice even in 1916. Unfortunately for Churchill, the loss of the battles at the Dardanelles, and a few other misfortunes, lost him his job at the Admiralty.

The story is a good one and WSC tells the tale in a very readable way. Anyone interested in WWI must read this book. The recreation of numerous actual memos and letters, most of them secret during the war, gives the reader insight into the decision making processes of the English Cabinet, the PM, and their allies. I have written a book entitled The Super Summary of World History, and I used the concepts that Churchill sets forth because he was a first hand observer. One exceptional fact about the work is how it allows the reader to see into the mind of a 19th century man. He uses the words glorious, splendid and others to describe the actions of British troops and sailors in action. They will be remembered always, and other phrases make the 21st century reader stop and wonder how those phrases and words could apply to war, especially a war in which useless slaughter was the order of the day. But there it is. The idea is that England and the Empire will always remember, thus the sacrifice was worth it. This is a 19th century view of war, and that view was trashed by World War I. This is one of the reasons the book is worth reading, because of Churchill's viewpoints and how they are reasoned out. He doesn't say he is out of touch with the complex results of the war, but his thoughts alone show that he has not fathomed the shock the war had on the common person.

My grips are: 1) much too wordy. Churchill repeats words and concepts endlessly. He will actually make a list of words - one right after the other - that mean nearly the same thing followed by a concept that means what the words were just describing! He must have been paid by the word because this book could be cut by over 100 pages with good editing. 2) Churchill is biased. A lot. He believes the English Empire and the English people were the greatest ever and he openly says so. 3) His coverage of the war omits the allies (France and Russia) almost completely. In fairness, he does state the book is written from his experiences - it is an autobiography of sorts - but he needed to have cut the wordiness and add more about the allies and what they were doing and thinking. 4) There is nothing of the peace treaty and the negotiations at Versailles.

Overall, a wonderful book that it is easy to read and understand (with the above caveats).

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Missing "The Aftermath"

This is a great work. Be aware, however, that this particular version of Churchill's The World Crisis does not include the final volume, entitled The Aftermath, which is an integral part of the original though published a bit later. I bought this book primarily to have a reading copy of the chapter regarding Ireland contained in The Aftermath and was disappointed to find that this is not contained in this particular version.

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