Review: World War One: History in an Hour by Rupert Colley

Another NOOK Bargain. As most of you know, I've been reading books about and/or set in World War I all year. When this one popped up for $1, I had to grab it and see if it lived up to it's billing. IT DID.

I wish I had had this one when I began my reading back in January. Colley sets out to give us a bare bones, just the facts timeline of who did what when, and what the consequences (albeit very spartan) were. By leaving out footnotes and esoteric discussions of various battle theories, by omitting chapters and books full of historical background, he manages to give us a clear and naked version of THE WAR and the players. The text itself can probably be read in an hour as advertised. It took me almost two hours, mainly because I kept consulting my trusty historical atlas so I could see exactly where and what he was discussing. I also added some minutes to my read by making several electronic notes (I LOVE E-readers for this very capability) of items I wanted to delve more deeply into.

It is a great little volume, well worth the limited expense. If it had contained one or two maps, it would have been even better.  There are several others in the series that would make good basic introductory reading and fill a need in any library.

Title: World War One: History in an Hour
Author: Rupert Colley
Publisher/Format: Harper Collins, UK  e-book
Copyright/Year of original publication:  2012
Subject: World War One
Number of pages: 80
Source:  Barnes and Noble (my own books)