The Eastern Front: A History of the First World War

'The First World War from a refreshingly unfamiliar angle . . . masterly'
— Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday Times

'Compelling . . . The Eastern Front is essential reading'
— Margaret Macmillan, Financial Times

‘A masterwork . . . This is the history of the Eastern Front I’ve waited all my life to read’
— Simon Sebag Montefiore

The definitive history of the Eastern Front in the First World War, from the acclaimed military historian and author of Passchendaele and The Western Front.

A Landmark Volume in the First World War Trilogy

In the second volume of his landmark First World War trilogy, Professor Nick Lloyd tells the story for the first time of what Winston Churchill once called the 'unknown war': the vast conflict in Eastern Europe and the Balkans that brought about the collapse of three empires.

Key Highlights of the Eastern Front

• The Eastern Front was no less bloody than the Western Front, despite being less written about.
• Between 1914 and 1917:
  • 16 million soldiers and 2 million civilians were killed, wounded, or maimed.
  • Battles spanned across a front sometimes as vast as 100 km in length.
• Using intimate eyewitness reports, diary entries, and memoirs—many translated into English for the first time—Lloyd reconstructs the full story of the war.

The War's Trajectory

The conflict began in the Balkans as a local struggle between Austria-Hungary and Serbia, eventually drawing in Russia, Germany, and Italy. It culminated in the collapse of the Habsburg Empire in 1918.

A Vivid and Authoritative Account

The Eastern Front paints a vivid and authoritative picture of a conflict that:

• Shook the world.
• Remains central to understanding the tragic, blood-soaked trajectory of the twentieth century.
• Offers crucial insights into the current war in Ukraine.

This is a must-read for history enthusiasts and anyone seeking to understand the broader impacts of the First World War.