Barbara Tuchman's "Guns of August" is far & away the best book on the topic, to say nothing about discussing the Great War. It covers the July 1914 crisis to the First Battle of the Marne. I read it at least once a year since picking it up in 2002, partly because I like her prose but also in how she's managed to make a suspense thriller out of documented historical events. This is easily like 5 out of 5 stars.
I recently completed John Keegan's "the First World War". Its a fairly respectable read if one were interested in the topic. It cannot compare to Tuchman's (nor am I trying to) but if you're looking for a good overview of what the Great Powers were thinking, the problems that arose, brief glimpses at the "sideshows" away from the main fighting, this may be for you. I particularly like his discussions regarding the fighting on the Eastern Front. Its the region that was least talked about probably because of the widespread illiteracy amongst both the Russians & the Austrians. The story of oppurtunistic Romania's joining the Allies, reads like a farce as well. However if you're looking for in-depth analysis, you'll probably be disappointed. This is more closer to a 3.5 stars out of 5.
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The picture below is of Nancy. Her boyfriend Nick pointed her in my direction sometime last year.
I really have to temper my enthusiasm for some people because I'm one of those single minded idiots where if one of my "Farenell Girls" called me up at 1a, bored, & wanting to do a shoot, I'd tell them to expect me in 20 minutes. Translation: unlike myself, I TRY (though admittedly, periodically fail) & remember that other people actually have a thing called "a life".
This picture was from our fourth shoot & the makeup done by J.
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