Book excerpt: This volume presents original research on the military, social and cultural history of the First World War. Inspired by the reinvigoration of this subject area in the last decade, its chapters explore the stresses of waging a war, whose “totalizing logic” issued formidable challenges to communities, accounted for the pervasion of the conflict into the private sphere, and brought about specific intellectual responses. Subjects included are race and gender relations, shellshock, civil-military relations, social mobilization and military discipline. It encompasses an unusually broad geographical range, including papers on Britain, France and Germany, but also Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria-Hungary and Latin America. This collective undertaking will interest those who are dedicated to the comparative history of modern warfare. Contributors include: Olivier Compagnon, Emmanuelle Cronier, Anne Duménil, Stefan Goebel, Hans-Georg Hofer, Jean-Yves LeNaour, Andre Loez, Jenny Macleod, Jessica Meyer, Michelle Moyd, Michael Neiberg, Tammy Proctor, Pierre Purseigle, Matthew Stibbe, Ismee Tames, Susanne Terwey.