July 1914 Countdown to War

'A work of meticulous scholarship ... McMeekin's description of the details of life in the European capitals - small events that influenced great decisions - makes July 1914 irresistible.' -- Roy Hattersley The Times 'A genuinely exciting, almost hour-by-hour account of the terrible month when Europe's diplomats danced their continent over the edge and into the abyss.' -- Nigel Jones BBC History Magazine 'Sean McMeekin's splendid July 1914 unravels all the shenanigans, bluffs and bunglings by which Europe's leaders and diplomats turned a minor murder in a Balkans backwater into total war ... There are scenes in July 1914 that linger long after the cover is closed.' -- John Lewis-Stempel Sunday Express 'McMeekin shows us precisely why the conflict happened ... [he] tells these stories with clarity and skill, drawing expert portraits of all the characters involved.' -- Keith Lowe Mail on Sunday 'Learned, punchy and enjoyable ... the book reads like a crime drama.' -- Christopher Clark London Review of Books 'A shocking history, told with edgy, angry authority.' -- Iain Finlayson Saga Magazine 'Sean McMeekin, in July 1914, [offers a] new perspective ... McMeekin has chosen the zoom lens. He opens with a crisp but vivid reconstruction of the double murder in the sunshine of Sarajevo, then concentrates entirely on unraveling the choreography day by day.' -- Harold Evans New York Times Book Review '[A] superbly researched political history ... a must-read for serious students of WWI, and a fascinating story for anyone interested in modern history.' Publishers Weekly '[A] thoroughly rewarding account that spares no nation regarding the causes of World War I... McMeekin delivers a gripping, almost day-by-day chronicle of the increasingly frantic maneuvers of European civilian leaders who mostly didn't want war and military leaders who had less objection.' Kirkus Reviews 'Sean McMeekin is establishing himself as a-or even the-leading young historian of modern Europe. Here he turns his gifts to the outbreak of war in July 1914 and has written another masterpiece.' -- Norman Stone author of World War Two: A Short History 'Alluding to historical controversies, McMeekin ably delivers what readers demand from a WWI-origins history: a taut rendition of the July 1914 crisis.' -- Booklist 'Blending scholarly research with a breezy and descriptive writing style, McMeekin makes a reader feel like a firsthand witness to the key events of that fateful summer ... a primer for today's diplomats on how not to allow a small event to spiral out of control into a major war.' Columbus Dispatch 'A fascinating account' -- Giles MacDonogh author of Prussia