Name: Dance of the Furies
ISBN: 9780674049543

Michael S. Neiberg

Looking beyond diplomats and generals, Neiberg shows that neither nationalist passions nor desires for revenge took Europe to war in 1914. Dance of the Furies gives voice to a generation who suddenly found themselves compelled to participate in a ghastly, protracted orgy of violence they never imagined would come to pass.

Dance of the Furies

Scott Wilson

This book appears to be an extremely well researched look at world war one. The themes that stood out to me were:
1) The relatively minor underlying causes.
2) The lack of will or want to war on the part of the whole of the population.
3) The surprise and shock that war actually did break out.
4) How quickly the war turned nasty through manipulation of the masses by the leadership. The justification of war as being caused by the other side.
5) Various thematic descriptions of war in its different stages as weather, moods, philosophical and spiritual descriptions.

I found that I was fighting to finish the book. The author's dedication to research made parts of the book dense. Part of the text felt like he was over proving his point through research from diaries, correspondence, and newspapers were used.

Other sections though showed sections of brilliance and of beautiful writing shining through. The author's use of literary illustration provided insights into the horror and impact this war had on all nations in this senseless, unwanted battle started by an extremely small handful of men.

Dance of the Furies

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