Starting with the context and origins of the war, covers the course of the conflict and its consequences for states, societies and individuals, for military science and technology, for national and international politics, and for the arts, national memory and political thought. At the same time, it questions common assumptions about the nature of the First World War and how it has been consistently and, wrongly, perceived as an exercise in futility. This second edition incorporates the most recent research and presents a thematic study of the war in all its aspects.