A detailed history of the important scientific developments and people behind them which were key to the way WW1 was fought and won, as well as post-war industrialisation and the way WW2 was fought. ( )

For a book that is supposed to be about scientists, code breakers and propagandists, there are a lot of early chapters dedicated to the beginnings of aviation. I ended up stopping in the middle of an aviation chapter and skipped ahead to find the actual scientists. The chapters of particular interest to me in this book were the ones dealing with the chemical warfare aspect, advances in medicine, and developments in psychology and psychiatry to treat soldiers with what we would call post-traumatic stress disorder. I didn't get to the bits about codebreakers or propagandists because the book was due back at the library and could not be renewed.

Because the chapters are more theme-based than chronological, it is fairly easy to skip around and read only the chapters that interest you, which is what I recommend doing if you end up borrowing this from the library. ( )

The role of scientists and technical people in the first world war. Quite interesting, but I though the section on propagandists didn't fit. ( )