Includes bibliographical references (pages 205-212) and index.
War origins / Niall Ferguson, Paul Kennedy -- Waging total war: learning curve or bleeding curve? / Holger Afflerbach, Gary Sheffield -- The soldiers' war: coercion or consent? / John Horne, Len Smith -- Ending the Great War: the peace that failed? / John Milton Cooper, Margaret MacMillan -- The Great War: midwife to modern memory? / Jay Winter, Robert Wohl.
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In late 2007 and early 2008, world-renowned historians gathered in Kansas City for a series of public forums on World War I. Each of the five events focused on a particular topic and featured spirited dialog between its prominent participants. The forums addressed topics about the Great War that have long fascinated both scholars and the educated public: the origins of the war and the question of who was responsible for the escalation of the July Crisis. From the perspectives of a German and a British scholar discussion ensued on the nature of generalship and military command and also the private soldiers' experiences of combat, revealing their strategies of survival and negotiation. These discussions show that the Great War was 'great' not merely because of its magnitude, but also because of its revolutionary effects.