By Ronald L. Ray. Just over 100 years ago, in July and August 1914, events unfolded which are known at least in outline by anyone the least bit familiar with world history. But before the first shot was fired of what soon would be called the Great War, and later the First World War, there was the death of a family man and his wife. This family man, though, was heir to an empire, and the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Este set in motion a series of events which would lead to the first truly worldwide war and bring about the near collapse of white civilization.
Here, The Barnes Review attempts to unravel the knot of circumstances surrounding the tragic beginning of World War I with the aid of a magisterial new book by Christopher Clark called The Sleepwalkers. [Read the entire article as a PDF…]
The Barnes Review, September/October 2014: World War I: Special TBR Centenary Issue