A Military Atlas of the First World War
This is a unique study of the conflict of 19 14-18 on land, sea and in the air, through maps, diagrams an d illustrations. The book corrects many long established errors and misconceptions. ' This book, although humbly titled "military atlas" provides all the necessary information on the first WW, from the motivations and politics, to weapon types, warfare tactics, railroad systems not only in Europe, but on all the periphal campaigns as well and by the way, you get the most comprehensive maps on the preluding balkan wars as well. The maps themselves are in black&white;, but perfectly presented, with clear, sharp contrasts, so that it's very easy to read them even if you're without military background. The book succeeds in being the ideal starting point for anyone being even remotely interested in WW1. Every map is accompanied by a short summary of what's going on, most of the times even in the maps themselves which makes the information very easy to consummate. The real value of the book lies in the fact that it presents the actions and campaigns and politics without judging them, without being biased in any sort of way, may it be the old good vs. bad stereotype or the modern pacifistic viewpoint: It just provides information and what you do with it is up to you. Highly recommended. --David KirkThis book is a very useful reference book, and is packed with information on all aspects of the war, not just the main fighting fronts. For example, it has maps of the German zeppelin raids over the UK. However, its big weakness is that the maps do not have height/contour and other topographic information, which is major problem for tactical studies. Anthony Liveseys atlas is better in this regard since its maps are in colour and are topographic, however it is weaker than Banks when loking at events outside the battle zones. They complement each other well. --By BCMH memberThis book is an essential companion for every First World War scholar or simply interested reader. The maps accurately illustrate the developing of operations on land and sea (including some on the submarine and mine warfare). The air war is very well illustrated as far as the zeppelin operations are concerned; I would have liked also a detailed account of bombers-fighters operations on the various fronts. Maps for the african, italian, palestinian, macedonian and mesopotamian fronts are included, together with those relating to the Western and Eastern theaters. I have found the tables on the various weapons very useful and complete. As an Italian reader I have to confess that I found the maps about the Italian front rather sketchy. Even with this little (and ultimately not much important) flaws, this is a great book, providing the reader with a definitive guide on the Great War fronts and warfare. Read it together with B. Liddel Hart's or J. Keegan's books on the conflict and you will have a reasonably complete understanding of WWI from the military point of view. --By Simone BONECHI--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.