Guns of August
All Quiet Along the Western Front.
Dreadnought and Castles of Steel by Robert Massie
The Arming of Europe and the Making of World War 1 by David Herrman
Europe’s Last Summer by David Fromkin
These are the best books for understanding what led up to the war. I have more references for the actual war itself.
This is way out of the mainstream of WW1 books but I enjoyed it very much:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Elsie-Mairi-Go-War-Extraordinary/dp/1848091354
Gallipoli by Alan Moorehead
Revolt in the Desert by TE Lawrence
THE GREAT WAR AND MODERN MEMORY by Paul Fussel impressed me.
“1918” by John Toland.
“A World Undone” by G.J. Meyer
“Castles of Steel” by Robert K. Massie
All Quiet Along the Western Front.
‘The First World War’ by Sir Martin Gilbert-
Few historians have the ability to write like Gilbert. He makes history come alive, by telling a series of ‘stories’ throughout his works.
Right - as posted above. Barbara Tuchman “Guns Of August” is by far the best.
I’d recommend the following:
1. All quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
2. The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman
3. The Sleepwalkers, How Europe went to War in 1914 by Christopher Clark
Paul Johnson “Modern Times”
I realize it’s not a book, but...
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=World+War+1
I’ve watched much of these. The photos are mostly very good.
August 1914 by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
For a perspective on the Russian front: August 1914 by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
The Real War 1914-1918 by B. H. Liddell Hart
Above would be my recommendations for a single-volume approach to the entire war. I'm just finishing a very interesting book on the events preceding the war and the diplomatic breakdown:
The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went To War In 1914 by Christopher Clark
- not, probably, what you're looking for but there's a lot of information in it I haven't found anywhere else.
Good luck!
m4wwiii