The Origins of the First World War

James Joll's justly-celebrated study (the first to be published in this major series) is not simply another narrative, retracing the powder trail that was finally ignited at Sarajevo: it is an ambitious and wide-ranging 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. In reviewing the historiographical debate that has grown around this most challenging of subjects, Professor Joll has thus been able to illuminate not only the crisis of July-August 1914, but also the very status of historical explanation itself.

The importance of the theme, the breadth and sympathy of James Joll's scholarship, and the clarity of his exposition, have all contributed to the spectacular success of the book since its first appearance. (A number of reviews of the First Edition are given below). Now, Professor Joll has returned to the text and revised it in the light of recent research. The most notable features of this Second Edition are the substantial new material on Italy and the war, the reworking of the bibliography, and the resetting of the entire text in a more readable format.