Presents an analysis of the historical forces at work in the Europe of 1914, and the very different ways in which historians have subsequently attempted to understand them.

‘Gordon Martel has done the impossible: he has madeJames Joll’s The Origins of the First World War once more the premier study on why war came in 1914…Martel has not simply updated Joll’s contribution but enhanced and improved it… A triumph of both scholarship and editorial talent; James Joll would have been pleased.’

Samuel R. Williamson Jr., University of the South.

‘Probably the best comprehensive history of the origins of World War I available in the English language… Gordon Martel’s [revision] will make certain that the book's deep insights will continue to captivate and inspire future generations of students and others interested in…the Great War.’

Volker Berghahn, ColumbiaUniversity.

Of the Second Edition:

'This succinct and, above all, admirably clear volume...will be essential reading for all students of the subject… It is written with lightness of touch and an eye for the telling anecdote that will commend it to the general reader too.'

British Book News

‘...this scholarly, comprehensive and subtle analysis should be made compulsory reading for all students of the period and, most of all, for the decision-makers of today.’
John F V Keiger, History

James Joll was one of the 20th century’s most eminent historians of international history. In this now classic text he produced a careful, clear and concise evaluation of the multitude of explanations that had been advanced to explain the causes of one of the most significant events in modern history.

In this new edition Gordon Martel has seamlessly weaved into the original text the enormous amount of new research on the subject that has been conducted by historians over the past twenty years. New arguments and the new debates that this research have generated have been integrated, and the bibliography expanded and updated.

The Origins of the First World War is an ambitious and wide-ranging analysis of the historical forces at work in the Europeof 1914, and the very different ways in which historians have subsequently attempted to understand them.

The late James Joll was Emeritus Professor of the University of London and a Fellow of the British Academy.

Gordon Martel is Professor of History at the University of Northern British Columbia. He is a leading historian of war and empire in the modern world.