A significant addition to the literature on World War I, which takes a global view of what has frequently been misperceived as a prolonged skirmish on the Western Front. Exploring such theatres as the Balkans, Africa and the Ottoman Empire, this single-volume work assesses Britain's participation in the light of what became a struggle for the defence of liberalism, and shows how the war shaped the "short" 20th century that followed it. Published to tie in with a television series, "The First World War" accompanies 10 one-hour episodes to be shown on Channel 4 during the autumn of 2003.