The Nation from 12/2/13 reviews three new tomes about the war to end all wars. They are The War That Ended Peace by Margaret MacMillan, The Sleepwalkers by Christopher Clark, and Dance of the Furies by Michael S. Nieberg. I am not reviewing them all or reviewing the review of then but just wanted to note a few items. MacMillan notes that the decision to go to war "...was made by a surprisingly small number (of men) who came largely but not entirely from the upper classes, whether the landed aristocracy or urban plutocracy". It was key individuals rather than "broad categorical forces". Nieberg claims that "...the elites in Berlin, and Austria and to a lessor extent St. Petersburg were the only ones who truly did want war". These writes all blame the "Great Men" theory for the war coming about. "Contrary to popular belief, most Europeans were not rabid nationalists hankering for a blood feud". Nieberg also claims that up to the last "days and hours" individual decisions could have stopped the rush to war.
(Source: The Nation "Behind the Storm" by Tara Zahra. 12/2/13)
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