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1913 cover art

1913

By: Paul Ham
Narrated by: Christopher Oxford
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Summary

Christmas 1913: In Britain, people are debating a new dance called ‘the tango’. In Germany, they are fascinated by the wedding of the Kaiser’s daughter to the Duke of Brunswick. Little did they know that their world was on ‘The Eve of War’, a catastrophe that was to engulf the continent, cost millions of lives, and change the course of the century. And yet behind the scenes, the Great Powers were marching towards what they thought was an inevitable conflict.

In this controversial and concise essay, the military historian Paul Ham argues that the First World War was not an historical mistake, a conflict into which the Great Powers stumbled by accident. Nor was it a justified war, in which uncontained German aggression had to be defeated. Instead the politicians and generals of the day willed the war, and prepared for it - but eventually found themselves caught up in an inferno they could no longer control.

Paul Ham is the author of the forthcoming 1914: The Year the World Ended, to be published by Random House in Britain in 2014. He has previously written the acclaimed Sandakanz, Kokoda, Vietnam: The Australian War and Hiroshima Nagasaki. A former Australia Correspondent of the Sunday Times, he was born in Sydney and educated in Australia and Britain. He now lives in Sydney and Paris.

©2013 Paul Ham (P)2014 Audible Studios
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

Critic reviews

"[A] vivid, comprehensive and quietly furious account...Paul Ham brings new tools to the job, unearthing fresh evidence of a deeply disturbing sort. He has a magpie eye for the telling detail" (Ben Macintyre, The Times)
"Provocative and challenging… A voice that is both vigorous and passionate" (Christopher Sylvester, Daily Express)
"Controversial...Well documented and stringently argued" (Peter Lewis, Daily Mail)"

What listeners say about 1913

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    3 out of 5 stars

Unnecessary chapters dominate.

The book itself simultaneously was long winded and far too short, more research was definitely needed. Russia's threat to British interests and the entire geopolitical balancing act of the great game was completely ignored.

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Fresh yet Foggy

Christopher Oxford's impeccable King's English diction was an invaluable aid for my experience of Paul Ham's argument. As a history autodidact of 15 years, I appreciated the fresh facts presented in defence of his thesis (like Austria-Hungary backing Albanian independence to block Serbia's access to the Adriatic or Russia's martial resurgence after its humiliation at the hands of Japan). However, Ham overestimates the abilities of the governing men of 1913 to trust each other & avoid bloodshed. His attempt to not allow biases to cloud his judgment falls short. Unlike us - with both World Wars & long-drawn bloody struggles in places like Vietnam & the Congo in our collective consciousness - these men knew only of centuries of warfare from the French invasion of Naples in 1494 which triggered the Italian Wars to the recent 2 Balkan Wars which marked Europe's rise to global supremacy. It was second nature for them to choose the agency of force of arms over the uncertainty of nimble negotiations & good faith in potential threats. I am convinced that these men were not sleepwalking towards war, but the imagination required to avoid it was simply absent in 1913. It was an unavoidable tragedy

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Great background WW1 story

Really good insight to how WW1 was instigated and contrived by a number of European countries and there politics, just a shame the book is so short as the narration was excellent and story line very good.

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An interesting approach overall

The author attempted to ‘peel away the onion skins’ on the lead up to the First World War rather than assume a linear causality, and raised some very good points along the way. There are longer and more authoritative books on the subject, but this one provides a useful interjection challenging the notion that war was inevitable and the leaders powerless to stop it.

The narrator had a clear and listenable voice, but unfortunately, to my ears, a constant pomposity of tone reminiscent of an Oxford dinner party male monologue, and I often found I had accordingly ‘tuned out’ for minutes at a time.

It’s a shame - this is of course a history book, but the written tone struck me as more edgy and conversational than the stentorian narration and I feel I might have retained more with a better match.

That said, these are quibbles, and the content is very worthwhile, and perfectly audible.

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So good, I also bought the kindle-version

The reader was very good.
The portrayal of politicians at the time as (my words) pitiful, self-aggrandizeing opportunists reminds one of today. The chance of a rerun today over Ukrayne, is all too great.

It feels well-researched, talking a lot about the mood in society, and the shennannigans of politicians.

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Excellent!

Very interesting take on the events leading up to the Great War. In sharp contrast to Christopher Clark's view of a Europe sleepwalking into the biggest catastrophe to befall the Western world. Armed conflict could have been avoided if the belligerent nations had shown a willingness to engage with each other to resolve their disputes and set aside their mistrust. War was not an inevitable outcome, but rather a way devised by the respective governments to defer the social reforms which were underway and necessary to improve the lot of the general population. Nationalism and the fostering of a false sense of patriotism played a role in fanning the flames of hostility which helped prime Europe's youth for war. Extremely well written and relatively concise account. Top marks for the narration. Really enjoyed the audiobook.

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1913 highly recommended

This should be read alongside other historians eg Barbara Tuchman, using this as the excellent basic scenario. It is heartfelt at times which gives it a deeper authority.

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Enjoyable history

A good short history you could enjoy over a weekend. Excellent narration that keeps up your interest

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A well argued opinion.

A generally understandable explanation for the origin of the first world war. Easy to read in one sitting

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