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Collision of Empires

The War on the Eastern Front in 1914

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Collision of Empires

By: Prit Buttar
Narrated by: Roger Clark
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About this listen

The fighting that raged in the East during the First World War was every bit as fierce as that on the Western Front, but the titanic clashes between three towering empires - Russia, Austro-Hungary, and Germany - remains a comparatively unknown facet of the Great War.

With the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the war in 2014, Collision of Empires is a timely expose of the bitter fighting on this forgotten front - a clash that would ultimately change the face of Europe forever. Drawing on firsthand accounts and detailed archival research, this is a dramatic retelling of the tumultuous events of the first year of the war, with the battles of Tannenberg and the Masurian Lakes in East Prussia followed by the Russo-Austrian clashes in Galicia and the failed German advance toward Warsaw.

©2014 Prit Buttar (P)2017 Tantor 20th Century Eastern Europe Military Modern War Eastern Europe Hungary Imperialism Interwar Period

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All stars
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I have read the other reviews and sort of agree with both the negative and the positive, so as a result come out in between....

The scholarship here is superb and the analysis is excellent. Five months of the war are dissected in huge detail, with true analytical rigour. It is brilliant in that respect.

The issue is as others have pointed out; it is virtually impossible to follow that detail. The lack of a big slug of maps in a PDF is a huge gap. Few western readers will have anywhere near a sufficient grasp of the geography; even without multiple subsequent changes of place names and especially that this is an audiobook. Few will be listening to this with a detailed atlas on their lap. So much of the day-by-day narrative ends up being wasted; leaving a soft-focus appreciation of the various campaigns during the period.

As a result, a wonderful work is let down.

Could have been superb

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Research and presentation of the highest standard..the reader is excellent ..the subject in great depth

Excellent

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Interesting audiobook, well written and properly narrated, however it is something for military history fans and looking at some maps is necessary, if you want to explore it in full dimension.

The first year of Great War

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This book is at it’s best when describing broad themes and patterns, and the occasional summaries are the most useful parts. It’s hard to keep up with the war of movement and who is attacking who. Especially when the Russian Generals have German names… At times I felt as out of touch as the Kaiser or Tsar… Very good book and excellent performance.

Good detail. Need a map

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An excellent history of the so oft forgotten Eastern Front in WW1. I especially like the authors detail on the divisions and their commanders.

The narration is brilliantly executed, it includes readings of names of places that are sometimes difficult to read or pronounce.

The attention to detail about Battles such as Tannenburg and explaining just how political the placement of commanders and details on the training of armies was. This affected the efficiency of many armies in WW1 and it is shown all to well in this series of books in the case of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

An enthralling listen for anyone who wants to learn about the history of WW1, and especially useful to those who study the topic.

The collision that dragged the world into War!

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The English language histories of World War 1 have always been dominated by the Western Front in France and Flanders to the exclusion of the huge war in the east. Prit Buttar's series goes far to redress this balance. I never thought I would ever see this series in audio. But here it is and it is just superb. The detail is just glorious so that individual actions can be followed in detail. If you want a coffee table summary of this vast conflict, this series is NOT for you. If you want to know how the various participants plans worked out in practice and how their armed forces performed, this is the book for you.

The narration by Roger Clarke is particularly good for such a long book, and his pronunciation of the original place names adds a flavour of the old world that was lost in these regions.

Whilst in some places the editing could have been a little tighter, it does not really detract from the setting of the stage, the detailed character sketches and the descriptions of the first five months of fighting.

Very highly recommended to anyone with a serious interest in the Eastern and Serbian fronts and why we are still living the the results today.

At last a proper campaign history

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I found this book to be quite dull to be honest, though it's more fun if you bring a bottle of vodka and down a shot every time the reader says "Nevertheless". Which is very frequently.

Nevertheless

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A real struggle to finish, in fact I didn't finish. It was far too dry and seemed to focus on division numbers and it all felt like it didn't go together. Disappointed.

Collision of Empire s

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Difficult to follow the narrative without maps. Well researched Probably better to read the book.

Difficult to follow

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