Long Shadow

Reynolds confronts the stereotypical view of the Great War as a futile slaughter, mired in mud and trenches, poets and poppies. To counteract this misperception, he returns to the immediate aftermath in Britain and Germany and then traces how opinions changed during the Second World War and beyond.

Reynolds addresses the explosive effect that the Great War had on European politics, giving birth to an age of turbulent mass democracy. Monarchies toppled and iconic leaders like Lenin, Wilson, and Mussolini emerged with competing visions of power. But in Britain, centrist political coalitions ruled the day.

The Great War shattered empires and unleashed nationalist fervor across Europe. David Reynolds visits the Sudetenland and Versailles to explore how the new nation-states that emerged from the ruins of the Habsburg Empire destabilized Europe for much of the 20th century.