The Eastern Front

A History of the Great War 1914-1918

De: Nick Lloyd

Narrado por: Elliot Fitzpatrick

The first major history in fifty years of the often overlooked Eastern Front of the First World War

Drawing on the latest scholarship as well as eyewitness reports, diary entries, and memoirs, Lloyd moves from the great battles of 1914 to the final collapse of the Central Powers in 1918, showing how a local struggle between Austria-Hungary and Serbia spiraled into a massive conflagration that pulled in Germany, Russia, Italy, Romania, and Bulgaria. Lloyd narrates the repeated invasions of Serbia as well as the great battles between Russian, German, and Austrian forces at Tannenberg, Komarow, Gorlice-Tarnow, and the Masurian Lakes. All along, he takes us into the strategy of the generals who decided the war's course, from the Germans Ludendorff and Hindenburg to the Austro-Hungarian chief, Conrad von Hötzendorf, to the brilliant Russian Brusilov.

Perhaps the most radical aspect of the struggle in the east was that the violence was not confined to combatants. The Eastern Front witnessed calculated attacks against civilians that ripped the ethnic and religious fabric of numerous societies, paving the way for the horrors of the Holocaust. Lloyd's magisterial, definitive account of the war in the east will fundamentally alter our understanding of the cataclysmic events that reshaped Europe and the world.

©2024 Nick Lloyd (P)2024 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Great overview of a neglected part of the First World War

Lloyd sheds light on a long ignored part of the First World war. Great info on the Italian front, Greek and Bulgarian involvement in the war. Russia before during and after the Revolution are heavily covered. If you want to get abroad idea of the war in the East and Southeast this is a great place to start

This is an eloquent account of a conflagration whose consequences we are still grappling with

I liked the clear account of the back and forth of battles across multiple fronts

Good overview of overlooked front

Nice survey of less well-known front of WW1. Hard to not have the story of the WW1 Eastern Front spend a lot of time with the Russian Revolution but this book does balance it pretty will with the Habsburg perspective, Italian front and actions in Romania and Bulgaria. In terms of the performance, I do think some of the transitions between what are obviously section breaks were a bit abrupt.

Very detailed but lacking deeper analysis

The good: Goes in depth with all events and fateful decisions.
- Shows the debate with Faulkenheim about focusing on victory in East vs west after post Marne stalemate
- Show debate between Conrad and Faulkenhiem over attacking Italy or Verdun
- Shows the shaky nature of all the belligerents
The bad:
- A minor (but often repeated falsehood): Franz Ferdinand was presented as a moderate, reformer. He was actually a hot head who was caught up in German nationalism. His only “qualification” for being heir was that his brother shot himself.
- A lack of in depth analysis: Emperor Carl’s peace plan was presented, but no analysis showing how ridiculous it was (I keep all my conquests, we won’t complain if Germany has to give up its…)

Excellent history of WWI on the Eastern Front

I listened to the first two books of the trilogy back to back. A tour de force. Well worth reading. I look forward to the third volume.