The Teach Yourself History series offers an alternative to academic historical books, its content being extensive yet extremely accessible and the approach refreshingly different. The books are informative and compelling, and engage the reader from beginning to end. They assume no prior historical knowledge, and are full of anecdotes and details that provide a very personal appeal. It follows its key developments, including the build up to the war, how it developed and the role of the different countries involved. It considers many intriguing aspects of the war, including life in the trenches, spies and espionage, the role of women, propaganda, weapons of war and the loss of life. It looks at the impact of the war on those involved and questions why Germany lost the war. The aim throughout is to give you a better understanding of the events that ultimately led to the slaughter of some nine million men and left a further twenty-nine million either wounded or missing.