This comprehensive history of World War I is unparalleled. Never before has the original catastrophe of the 20th century been told in such a multifaceted way: comparing Europe, with a global perspective, and with a sovereign narrative. Jörn Leonhard's grand synthesis unfolds an impressive panorama. It shows how the world entered the war and how it emerged from it as a completely different entity. It not only focuses on states and nations but also on empires in Europe and far beyond. It describes the dynamic changes in the scope of action, the rapid military developments, and the ever-quickening transformations of wartime societies. Moreover, it brings to life the experiences of very different contemporaries: military personnel, politicians, writers, men and women, soldiers and workers. However, the violent experiences of the world war did not end with the peace treaties after 1918; they continued in Europe and around the world in the name of new concepts of order and radical ideologies - as if the Pandora's box had been opened back then, that vessel of horror from ancient mythology from which all the evils of the world escaped when one lifted its lid against the advice of the gods.