Dreadnought

Rating:
Summary: Proof that history can be great fun!
Review: Massie's Dreadnought is a rare gem, a non-fiction page-turner that seems to capture the imagination of most readers. Massie examines the arms race, not the nuclear one between Russia and the US, but the battleship race between Britain and an emergent Germany. In clear engaging prose he explains why these enormous ships were so important and how they were seen as more than weapons but as symbols of national prestige.

Nor does the author simply focus on these great ships. Most of the book is devoted to the characters who took part in the events and how they shaped them. At the same time, he never looses sight of the irony of the rush to invest huge sums to build these huge ships, even though each generation would be quickly rendered obsolete. The book also forces us to look at many of the foibles of our own time and see that they are far from unique. The struggle between the modernizes of Britain at the turn of the century locked in battle with an entrenched bureaucracy rings more than a little familiar.

To his credit, he also makes sure we understand how all of this nationalist competition would end with the blood of the young men of Europe watering the fields of Belgium and France. The lessons this moment in history teaches are ones we could all use today.

In short, I could not put this book down. If you are planning a trip and have time, or if you travel in many short hops (conveniently none of the chapters are too long) you will find this a wonderful entertaining read.

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Outstanding!
Review: This is a must read for anyone seeking to understand why the Great War took place. Massie takes us from the Austro-Prussian War right up to the beginning of the Great War; the people, the events, it's all here. But for two men, Jackie Fisher and Winston Churchill, the Great War might have been much shorter-- and with a very different ending.

Rating:
Summary: Another Masterpiece
Review: Amazing book. This is a must read for anyone interested in pre-WWI politics. It almost qualifies as a manual on how to tell a complex story taking place over a long period of time without overwhelming a neophyte to the subject.

I ordered this volume sight unseen because Massie's Peter the Great is probably the best biography I have ever read. At the same time, noting the subject matter of this volume, I thought it would make a wonderful companion piece to Barbara Tuchman's epochal book The Guns of August which I had never read. Unfortunately, I picked up the Tuchman book first and while deeply impressed by her ability to tell the story of the first month of WWI, I often found myself overwhelmed by the sheer volume of names, dates and places that littered her book. By the end, I never felt I like knew any but a half dozen of the figures. The sheer details employed tarnished, in this WWI lay man's eyes, an otherwise worthy book.

Massie's book does not suffer from this problem. In describing essentially fifty years of British/German relations with a special focus on naval policy, Massie has chosen a subject of enormous depth. What makes it work, however, is Massie's unique ability to describe each step between Bismark's victories in Austria in 1866 and France in 1870, and August 1914 through a short biography of the policy maker at the forefront of the decision-making process. Each chapter is essentially a portrait of a man first and his place in the severing of German/British relations second. By reading this book I got to know Kaiser Wilhem, Admiral Tirpitz, Lord Salisbury, King George, Sir Joe Chamberlain, Admiral Fischer and couple dozen others intimately. Political decision making in Britain's cabinet or in the foreign office in Berlin mattered because I understood what each policy maker brought to the table - his history, his passion and his responsibilities. Massie always seems to know exactly the right anecdote to tell to capture the essence of a man. Chapters on the Boer War, the Balkan Crisis and the Naval Law came alive because the biographies made it matter how each person grew from those experiences. I only wish other writers of history could adopt this technique.

While Massie clearly related a little better to his British subjects (the Kaiser and some German bureaucrats sometimes are portrayed more as bad stereotypes than as human beings) and occasionally brought late-20th century judgments on late-19th century values, Massie did a great job of getting out of the way and letting a fascinating tale tell itself. The writing, as usual, is superb. Overall, an amazing book. And I was right, it is a great companion piece to The Guns of August. Just read this one first.

My only criticism is that it is not as good as Peter the Great. Since that is like saying it is not as good as War and Peace, that is hardly criticism at all.

Rating:
Summary: Fear God and Dreadnought
Review: ... is a motto of Baron Fisher of Kilverstone, brilliant and notorious First Sea Lord of the British Admiralty, Jackie Fisher. Fisher is the hero of Robert Massies colossus "Dreadnought : Britain, Germany, and the Coming of the Great War". Fisher, unlike any other man, was responsible for creation of the revolutionary new battleship class, which overnight made all the other Navy in world obsolete, and assured the preeminence of the British navy in the future Great War. Fisher predicted that the future battle of Armageddon will be played out between German and British fleets in 1916, and that Admiral Jellicoe will preside over the British fleet. So it was on May 31, 1916 at the Battle of Jutland, the battle which decided the Naval history of the Great War.

Massie's book starts 40 years before the battle, and traces the political development in British Empire and on the Continent. We see the rise of Prussian, and then German militarism, starting with Bismarck unification, through the war of 1871, the rise of Kaiser William II, and the construction of the German Navy by admiral Tirpitz. We witness, the middle and closing years of Victorian Area, battles for the survival of the German Empire. Massie provides an excellent overview of the complex Continental diplomacy and a set of alliances, which allowed Germany to develop into the preeminent European power; and the historical realization on the part of Britain, that the policy of "Splendid Isolation" will not work in the 20th Century.

I simply could not put this book down for a week it took me to digest all 1007 pages of it! Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Dreadnaught
Review: Often, non-military historians dismiss wars as "boring" and state the real "history" is what happens before or after the conflict. In Dreadnaught, Robert Massie thoroughly analyzes the decades before the Great War to illustrate how the war occurred. While the underlying theme is the naval arms race between Britain and Germany, Massie covers the royal family relationships across the continent, geo-political ambitions of the several European powers, the build up of armies, and the economic situation. Each of these elements contributed to the coming of war.

Dreadnaught is perhaps the most detailed account presently available in a single volume, and it is worth the time to read this fine book. From clshes in eastern Europe to north Africa that were precursors to global conflict, to the heads of state involved to the military leaders, this book covers the entire historical landscape that puts World War I in proper perspective.

Massie's work should remain the standard in its field for years to come. Though it is long, the reader will yearn for more when finished.

Rating:
Summary: Spellbinding
Review: A fascinating history of the period leading up to World War I. Describes the political intrigue, colonial maneuvering, and the naval arms race between Germany and England, compelling personal naratives of the major English and German political and Royal figures, a mesmirizing overview of the unification of Germany under Bismark, the story of Englands rise as the major sea power, and a heartbreaking account of the last desperate attemps to prevent the war. Couldn't put it down.

Mr. Massie thank you for this masterpiece.

Rating:
Summary: Almost
Review: Before I get into why I give this only four stars, let me be clear that Dreadnought is a staggering piece of scholarship. As a researcher and historian, I was amazed by the sheer volume of information and the admirable job Massie did in weaving it all together. While I was reading it, I resented whatever took me away from it (husband, family, job, etc.)!

That said, there were a couple choices Massie made with which I did not agree. First, he presents child abuse and anti-Semitism with a 1990s viewpoint, not a 1900s one. Interestingly, he is much less critical of the time period's views on homosexuality. Second, although he unearthed a myriad of fascinating stories, not all of them belonged in the book. There were a number of footnotes that didn't fit into the narrative, but it seemed Massie couldn't bring himself to leave the stories out. Third, and this is much harder to avoid, his chronology is a bit unwieldy. The book is not structured chronologically but rather by particular incidents or personalities. I was not familiar with late 19th century/early 20th century European history and so I found it difficult to keep track of what was happening where and when. Massie does try to help the reader with this and, considering the scope of the work, he does a laudable job.

Let me repeat - I really enjoyed this book and have already recommended it to people. But the lapses into contemporary sensibility and the distracting, though enjoyable, footnotes prevent me from giving Dreadnought five stars.

Rating:
Summary: A comprehensive look at German naval policy, and a good read
Review: Dreadnought is a must-read for all fans of World War I history. Massie, as usual, brings the past into vivid detail, reminding us of the importance of personality while never ignoring the facts.

I highly recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Like being there
Review: Massie's style of history focuses on the personalities that drove the events. In this book he has chosen an era that suits that style perfectly. It was an age where Bismarck played the nations of Europe like chess pieces, where a sovereign could write about "democracy" with cheerful disdain, and bellicose nationalism was all the rage.

While not a perfect account of the events that triggered World War One, one does get a good sense of how it all happened- the hubris of nations, the obsession with status among the world powers, and the general refusal to confront the military consequences of the Industrial Age.

Readable, educational, entertaining, all in all a must-buy.

Rating:
Summary: An essential book about the period 1880-1914, very readable
Review: Wonderful book - it reads like a novel, with excellent portraits of personalities, complete royal families' background and a lot of human interest. On dreadnoughts themselves, only one chapter and not that much technology or figures there, although there is enough to understand the main issues. A must read if you are interested in European history of the period, specially from a British point of view, which I think is the predominant one in this book.