The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914

by Christopher Clark
The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914 cover
Good Books rating 4.5
Technical
  • ID: 2541
  • Added: 2025-10-15
  • Updated: 2025-10-15
  • Reviews: 2
Reviews
westernfrontassociation.com · Unknown · 2025-10-17
insightful 4.50

The Sleepwalkers is a highly informative and enjoyable book that delves into the complex political and diplomatic environment leading up to World War I. The author's insightful analysis of the various factors and personalities involved makes it essential reading for anyone interested in the conflict.

The Sleepwalkers by Christopher Clark is a magisterial study of how Europe went to war in 1914. The book focuses on the 'how' rather than the 'why' of the war, drawing together the many strands of politics, alliances, personalities, and geography that led to the conflict. Clark's analysis is insightful and engaging, highlighting the fragility of great power diplomacy and the complex, often chaotic, political environment of the time. The book is well-researched and well-written, making it essential reading for anyone seriously interested in the First World War. The author's ability to capture the uncertainty and unpredictability of the pre-war period is particularly noteworthy, as is his inclusion of lesser-known key players and their roles in the events leading up to the war.

Quick quotes

    Clark is an Australian historian and the Regius Professor of history at Cambridge University. I first read his book in 2014 in an effort to move away from the usual British-centric works to which I found myself referring. Re-reading its small print over many pages has not diminished my respect for the author's skills as a writer nor for his scholarship. The Sleepwalkers is an immensely informative and enjoyable book.

    It is difficult to condense in a few hundred words this magisterial study of World War One. Clearly its focus is 'how' rather than 'why' and that is the germ of this engrossing and erudite study.

    The author notes that the polarization of Europe's geo-political system was a crucial precondition for the war that broke out in 1914.

e-ir.info · Unknown · 2015-11-17
insightful 4.50

The Sleepwalkers by Christopher Clark is praised for its accessible style and multi-angle approach to the origins of World War I, avoiding the blame game and focusing on human agency. The book challenges traditional views, particularly in Germany, and offers a nuanced perspective on the complex events leading to the war.

Christopher Clark's The Sleepwalkers is highly regarded for making the complex subject of World War I accessible to a broad audience. The book's strength lies in its multi-angle approach, which avoids singling out one culprit and instead focuses on human agency. This perspective is particularly valuable for students of international politics. Clark's use of the concept of sleepwalking to analyze the run-up to the war highlights the actors' blindness to reality and the fissured international system. The book challenges traditional views, especially in Germany, where the narrative of sole responsibility for both world wars is deeply ingrained. Clark argues that the outbreak of World War I was a tragedy, not a crime, and that the complexity of the international system must be considered. The book is divided into three parts and twelve chapters, drawing on a diverse range of sources. Clark's detailed analysis of the events leading to the war, including the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, provides a nuanced understanding of the conflict. The book's focus on the Balkans and the broader European theatre offers valuable insights for IR scholars.

Quick quotes

    The actors were “watchful but unseeing, haunted by dreams, yet blind to reality…

    The outbreak of the war was a tragedy, not a crime

    The task for modern German society is not to diminish the Second Reich’s responsibility, but to place its guilt in the more complicated workings of the international, i.e. European, system at large.

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