WWI Centenary

"Now just like your bald head you ain't got no heir"
Well, that's probably what started the whole thing right there. My Dad would have told him grass don't grow on a busy highway, but no such luck here, I guess.
It's nice to finally have a comprehensive understanding of the history.

On another note, here's a fascinating look at the Bomb Collector of Ypres, Belgium:
http://nyti.ms/TCQhAG

Thank you for posting the video. Funny and educational.

Tom, thanks for the post.
It's sobering that 17 million people died as a result of the events set in motion at Sarajevo one hundred years ago.

Of recent literature on the origins of the war, ie, the last 20 years or so, I would recommend those works by Hew Strachan, N. Fergusen "The Pity of War, " Max Hastings, and Christopher Clark, "The Sleepwalkers" if you want something analytical, balanced, incisive, scholarly, and professional. Yes, "the sequence of events" in 1914 is of utmost importance to grasping an understanding for the coming of the war.

Tom,

That video was well done and certainly explained the basics of the reasons for WW-I. I haven't done as much research on WW-I as I have WW-II, but that's something I should probably do as both my grandfathers fought in the war.

There really have been some great articles as well as videos on WWI. The New York Times seemed overrun with them this past weekend. Here's one that looks how it changed war. This one looks in detail at the assassination. Here's another on Belgium today.

And then there is the literature about WWI. I read Birdsong a few years ago and All's Quiet on the Western Front in high school.

So much of the history that I learned in school was slogan and bullet points. We just barely made it to WWI. I'm really glad to see all these articles and videos as I think we have a lot to learn and think about with this war.

Pam

We've been watching the Strachan book turned into a 4-disc set "The First World War" - very interesting! Although the narrator is a bit of a monotone, so when I sit down after dinner with my glass of wine and the evening's episode, I admit to nodding off at times... but will just watch it again. Lots of original footage as well as some footage from modern times.

Thanks for the rap, Tom - now if those guys were narrating the Strachan show, I would definitely stay awake!

I agree that the Strachan 4 CD set on the war is most likely the best I have seen in its professionalism, balance, focusing on the global aspects of the war not merely the partiality of the Western Front, i.e., its scholarly approach Strachan; it's much better then the PBS presentation on the Great War with its obviously Allied focus.