The First World War

Incredibly detailed account of the war and the European political landscape in the early 1900s. The only thing I took issue with is the perspective of Russia going into the war. Russia had come off a long unproductive conflict on the Korean peninsula. The Russian generals were well aware of Germany's military might and superiority over their capability. They tried in vain to advise the czar against getting involved as they strongly believed they would be crushed by the Germans. I'm also not sure that Germany went into the war with the trepidation that is expressed in the documentary. This is the first documentary I've seen that correctly depicts the Kaiser for the monster he was. Also it does an excellent job of reviewing the worldwide nature of the war and the broad scope of the German attack including fomenting internal turmoil within its adversaries. This is must viewing for any student of history.

This IS a very well done documentary. In fact, it is so well done that it leaves me speechless that the credits are so poor, both in the original 10 episodes and at IMDb.com. Who, for example, actually wrote the series? At the closing of each episode, the series is credited as being "based on a book by Hew Strachan." Does this mean he actually wrote the script? If not, who did? Was it Jonathan Lewis, who was credited as the series narrator? Even more irritating is that NONE of the actors who read from diaries and other primary source material are credited at all. The IMDb site credits the actual historical figures, as if they were still alive to read out loud material that is now almost 100 years old! Very weird at best, and unnecessarily dodgy at worst.

Given my love of history, the cataclysmic, foolhardy nightmare that this represents was something I wanted to investigate further. Video could add a dimension that even a brilliant book could not illustrate.

Lucky me, and fortunate viewer, who took the time to watch this dazzling miniseries! I rented this a few days after the UK's last veteran, and world's oldest man, passed away. He had been in many ways a guardian, helping others comprehend the nightmare, and was so forgiving as to insist on adding German pallbearers at his funeral, age 114.

The miniseries is expansive (as others have mentioned), fascinating, and most importantly, brings the horror to life (and death). A great compliment - it had me racing back to read more about the conflict, especially the myriad ideas on WHY it began.

There are so many memorable scenes! The use of personal memoirs, and the film footage, then and now, are wonderful.

Most highly recommended!

There have been some pretty good documentary series on World War One - like the BBC's '1914-18' and 'The Great War,' which inspired 'The World at War' - but this Channel Four series is the best ever. Unlike almost all of the others it gives you a look at the WORLD war aspect of it, not just focusing on the Western Front or (like most poor US documentaries) on the last year when America was involved, you also see the war in Russia, in Arabia, in Africa to get a real sense of the scale. Unlike 1914-18 it takes a chronological look at the war, but does it in a riveting way: the first episode plays like a thriller, while others are like tragedies. And it doesn't fall in for clichés or easy targets. It dispels a lot of myths along the way (for example, did you know the assassinated Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand was anti-militarist and had actually prevented war breaking out several times? I didn't) and holds your attention throughout. And the haunting end title music written by a composer who died in the war is unforgettable.

One of the greatest TV shows ever, it's a crime this is so little known and failed to win any major awards. It's on DVD and if you've any interest in the subject at all, it's the only WW1 doc you need to buy.

You would not recommend reading only one history book, so why would anyone recommend only one documentary about World War I? This is a good documentary because it covers a great deal and very engagingly, but sometimes it tries to cover too much and necessarily leaves gaps.

If you watch other documentaries, you will find out that the first great tank breakthrough was preceded by a tank failure and that the British Expeditionary Force was so unprepared for the breakthrough when it came that they failed to send enough troops into the breach to secure it, leading to the German recapture of the temporarily lost territory.

There is confusion, too, as when it is said that German commander von Hutier's attack on Amiens, France had no purpose, but a few minutes later it is said that when Ludendorff decided to attack Amiens he had an objective of smashing the railroad nexus there. Had Hutier succeeded, wouldn't that have served the same purpose even if accidentally?

A mass of information is presented that dizzies the old hand let alone the beginner, but even so, I was glad that this documentary offers a wealth of stimulating information about all sides of the conflict. The fact that it is British-made gives it an unavoidable bias that is made up for by its attempt to bring other nation's voices into the narrative, using the accounts of both well-known and relatively unknown participants.

There are many documentaries about World War I that are also good. Some, for example, focus more than this one on the war from the point of view of those outside of Europe. This one gives a lot of information about that aspect of the war even though it tries to cover too much ground to tell the viewer all the details. This is a survey, and a pretty good starting point. Learn more about World War I, and you will come to see that there are other opinions on some of the topics. There is more subject matter than this documentary had time to cover, and you might even think that what they left out is awfully important. You might, nevertheless, always remember "The First World War" fondly as an equally informative and moving introduction.