The Vanquished

Why the First World War Failed to End, 1917-1923

Robert Gerwarth

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A gripping work of history in the tradition of Christopher Clark's The Sleepwalkers

In this highly original and gripping book Robert Gerwarth asks us to think again about the true legacy of the First World War. In large part it was not the fighting on the Western front which proved so ruinous to Europe's future, but the devastating aftermath, as countries on both sides of the original conflict were wrecked by revolution, pogroms, mass expulsions and further major military clashes. Everywhere there were vengeful people, their lives racked by a murderous sense of injustice, and looking for the opportunity to revenge themselves on enemies real and imaginary. Only a decade later, the rise of the Third Reich and other totalitarian states provided them with the opportunity they had been looking for.

Published: 18 September 2017
ISBN: 9780141976372
Imprint: Penguin Press
Format: Paperback
Pages: 464
RRP: $30.00

Categories:

History

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About the author

Robert Gerwarth

Robert Gerwarth is Professor of Modern History at University College Dublin and Director of its Centre for War Studies. He is the author of The Bismarck Myth and a biography of Reinhard Heydrich. He has studied and taught in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and France.

Praise for The Vanquished

A breathtaking, magisterial panorama, telling the epic story of post-war anarchy, dying empires and rising nation states. It makes us rethink our understanding of Europe's twentieth century
David Motadel, The Times Literary Supplement

Lucid, incisive and packed with fascinating details
Financial Times, Books of the Year

Important and timely . . . obliges us to reconsider a period and a battlefront that has too often been neglected
Margaret MacMillan, The New York Times Review of Books

This narrative of continent-wide chaos performs a valuable service by chronicling the postwar turmoil of Europe . . . helps us understand why few wars reach tidy conclusions
Max Hastings, Sunday Times

Reminds us, in vivid and often shocking detail, that only some countries saw killing end on the 11th day of the 11th month . . . leaves a sense of foreboding for our own time
Robert Tombs, The Times