The opening salvo

NICK LLOYD enjoys a rich account of the outbreak of the First World War and the early weeks of the conflict

- NICK LLOYD

Ring of Fire focuses on the period between the mobilisations of July 1914 and the battle of the Marne in the first half of September that year, telling the story of the frantic opening period of the war when the German army swept through Belgium to conquer France. There are suitable detours to the eastern front and the Balkans, as well as some aspects of the war at sea and across the colonial world. In many ways, it reprises the approach of Barbara Tuchman’s classic 1962 bestseller August 1914 (published in the US as The Guns of August).

The authors, Alex Churchill and Nicolai Eberholst, have attempted to describe how the First World War broke out and what it looked like from the inside, with a focus on ordinary people rather than the generals or politicians who directed events from behind the lines. It covers this ground with breathless enthusiasm and, though it does not scale the heights of Tuchman’s Pulitzer-winning account, it offers an updated and modern version that, wisely, explores the fighting during the battle of the Marne (which was only touched upon in August 1914). The book is split into 25 chapters (plus introduction and epilogue), each with a specific focus – usually a time and place – which keeps the narrative moving swiftly.

A real strength is the wide range of sources consulted. The authors have translated much new foreign-language material, including original French, German and Russian accounts, which are scattered liberally throughout the text.

Though it covers clashes between the Central Powers and Russia on the eastern front, including Austria-Hungary’s abortive invasion of Serbia, at the heart of