Description
Book SynopsisThis is a completely new interpretation of the First World War. Dr Offer weaves together the economic and social history of the English-speaking world, the Pacific Basin, and Germany, with the development of food production and consumption. He argues that the roots of Germany''s defeat went back to the late-Victorian decline of British agriculture and the development of Canada, Australia, and the United States as agrarian exporters, while the agrarian interests of America and Australia were crucial in shaping the peace. The book examines the relation between economic and military power, and legal and moral questions of selecting civilians as a strategic target.
Trade ReviewOffer has opened up a rich seam of enquiry, as well as producing a masterly and fascinating book...a magnificently original piece of research * Economic History Review *
Dr Offer's breadth of vision is remarkable, his scholarship is challenging and his eye for the telling detail is keen. In range and depth this book would be hard to equal; and its style and structure make it something of a rarity, for it is as enjoyable as it is important. * Times Higher Educational Supplement *
a brilliant, deeply disturbing and intellectually restless account... For students of the period, this book is full of insights... Offer has no competition at all in his marvellous discussion of the imperial dimension of agrarian history, or of its poltiical and diplomatic meaning. Overall, this book will open a new debate... It is historical writing of the highest order: shrewd, compassionate, occasionally moving, always alive. * Rural History *
This is a superb piece of historical writing. * Journal of Economic History *
Offer has opened up a rich seam of enquiry, as well as producing a masterly and fascinating book...a magnificently original piece of research * Economic History Review *
Dr Offer's breadth of vision is remarkable, his scholarship is challenging and his eye for the telling detail is keen. In range and depth this book would be hard to equal; and its style and structure make it something of a rarity, for it is as enjoyable as it is important. * Times Higher Educational Supplement *
a brilliant, deeply disturbing and intellectually restless account... For students of the period, this book is full of insights... Offer has no competition at all in his marvellous discussion of the imperial dimension of agrarian history, or of its poltiical and diplomatic meaning. Overall, this book will open a new debate... It is historical writing of the highest order: shrewd, compassionate, occasionally moving, always alive. * Rural History *
This is a superb piece of historical writing. * Journal of Economic History *
Table of ContentsList of plates; List of tables; List of figures; Introduction: Economic and social interpretation of the First World War; Part I: How was Germany defeated?: Society under siege: Germany, 1914-1918; Food reform and food science; Did Germany really starve?; Food and the German State; Collapse; Part II: The Agrarian Bond: The United States, Canada, and Australia: Late-Victorian Britain - an import economy; Causes of the Agricultural Depression, 1870-1924; The sod House against the manor house; `Like rats in a trap' - British urban society and overseas opportunties; Coast, interior, and metropolis; Wheat and Empire in Canada; Asian labour on the Pacific rim: The struggle for exclusion, 1860-1907; Part III: The Atlantic ori entation: Fear of famine in British war plans, 1890-1908; Power and plenty: Naval mercantilism, 1905-1908; The dominion dimension; Morality and Admiralty: `Jacky' Fisher, economic warfare, and International law; Blockade and its enemies, 1909-1912; Preparation and action, 1912-1914; Part IV: The other side of the North Sea: Economic development and national security in Wilhelmian Germany; Germany: Economic preparation and the decision for war; `A second decision for war' - The U-boat campaign; Neither dominion nor peace: Germany after the Armistice; Conclusion; List of sources cited; Index
