Were thousands of unarmed Belgian civilians slaughtered by invading German troops in August, 1914, or are accounts of these deaths mere fabrications constructed by fanatically anti-German Allied propagandists? This pathbreaking book, based on meticulous research, uncovers the truth of the disputed atrocities and explains how the politics of propaganda and memory have shaped radically different versions of that truth. "Horne and Kramer argue their points impeccably and, I think, irrefutably."-Istvan Deak, New Republic

This is a volume of comparative essays on the First World War that focuses on one central feature: the political and cultural "mobilization" of the populations of the main belligerent countries in Europe behind the war. It explores how and why they supported the war for so long (as soldiers and civilians), why that support weakened in the face of the devastation of trench warfare, and why states with a stronger degree of political support and national integration (such as Britain and France) were ultimately successful.

This is a volume of comparative essays on the First World War that focuses on one central feature: the political and cultural "mobilization" of the populations of the main belligerent countries in Europe behind the war. It explores how and why they supported the war for so long (as soldiers and civilians), why that support weakened in the face of the devastation of trench warfare, and why states with a stronger degree of political support and national integration (such as Britain and France) were ultimately successful.