Catastrophe 1914: When Europe Went to War

Catastrophe 1914: When Europe Went to War by Max Hastings, 628 pages.

I always enjoy reading histories by Hastings because his works are detailed, balanced, and do a great job of giving a broader picture than many other contemporary historians. Catastrophe devotes a fair amount to the successes of the Russian army, to the battles between Serbia and Austria-Hungary, and to the hopeless meandering of the British Expeditionary Force under John French. There's no hagiography with Hastings, he points out the mistakes made by all actors in the drama and does not seem interested in assessing blame because of country of origin. German General Helmuth von Moltke is shown as a man out of his depth, clinging to a plan that was never practical. British Commander in Chief, Field-Marshal Sir John French is shown to be a defeatist, with almost no interest in cooperating with his allies. His subordinate and eventual replacement, General Sir Douglas Haig, while shown to be an opportunist and conniver, has his reputation as a military commander somewhat restored, with the excellent summation: "where no general of any nationality much enhanced his reputation, Haig was an abler soldier than caricature allows."
The text follows a loose chronology, moving through lead up to the war and the war itself, but following on account in one area through to the end before doubling back to cover a simultaneous, but geographically separate situation.
I enjoyed listening to the downloadable audio, admirably read by Simon Vance, but the scope of the book, the names and places covered during this one year (and mostly the last quarter of that year) made keeping it straight very difficult without the text to consult.