Reference Reviews

Reference for Students

The Encyclopedia of World War I. Edited by Spencer C. Tucker. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC CLIO, 2005. 5 vols. 1661 p. $485.00. ISBN.

Students studying the two Great Wars will find the statistics of this first conflict very surprising in their magnitude. A total of 65,000,000 soldiers fought, 9,000,000 died and another 23,000,000 were wounded. It is unfortunate that few lessons were learned from this war, and this ignorance with the subsequent growth of fascism launched the Second World War. The list of 1,200 or more entries and maps and 16 pages of maps begin each volume. The first volume has four introductory essays: “Origins of World War I,” “Outbreak of the War,” World War I Overview” and “Legacy of the War.” Because World War II had much more participation by the U.S. than the earlier war, World War I does not often get the same attention by writers. However, it left the economies of Europe in disarray and the U.S. moved into the leadership role. The signed articles have “see also” references and brief bibliographies. Black and white photographs illustrate some articles. Some inset boxes give additional information. The 4th volume has a selected list of Medal of Honor and Victoria Cross Recipients, a 10-page chronology beginning with June 1914 and ending November 1918, a 14-page glossary and a 13-page bibliography. The 5th volume has primary source material, a list of 195 documents, in chronological order. A brief paragraph introduces each document and gives the source for the document with a website where additional information can be found. The Draft Act, authorizing the President to raise a Regular Army, is there. This differed from the Civil War where a conscripted soldier could pay a substitute to take his place. As the debate arises at this time in history, students may wish to read this authorization and compare it to later draft regulations. Your world history students will find a storehouse of information about this critical time in our history.