The Sleepwalkers cover art

The Sleepwalkers

 Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

$8.99/mo after trial ends. Cancel anytime
Try for $0.00
More purchase options

The Sleepwalkers

By: Christopher Clark
Narrated by: Peter Silverleaf
Try for $0.00

Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $33.99

Buy Now for $33.99

Summary

The pacy, sensitive and formidably argued history of the causes of the First World War, from acclaimed historian and author Christopher Clark.

Sunday Times and Independent Books of the Year 2012.

The moments that it took Gavrilo Princip to step forward to the stalled car and shoot dead Franz Ferdinand and his wife were perhaps the most fateful of the modern era. An act of terrorism of staggering efficiency, it fulfilled its every aim: it would liberate Bosnia from Habsburg rule, and it created a powerful new Serbia, but it also brought down four great empires, killed millions of men and destroyed a civilization. What made a seemingly prosperous and complacent Europe so vulnerable to the impact of this assassination?

In The Sleepwalkers Christopher Clark retells the story of the outbreak of the First World War and its causes. Above all, it shows how the failure to understand the seriousness of the chaotic, near genocidal fighting in the Balkans would drag Europe into catastrophe.

©2012 Christopher Clark (P)2018 Audible, Ltd Europe Military War Imperialism Middle Ages Russia Winston Churchill Soviet Union Royalty Socialism Africa Middle East Self-Determination Interwar Period
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_c
All stars
Most relevant
My only complaint is that for a book dealing with this subject matter, not one word was said of Jean Jaurès...

Thought provoking

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Narrator managed to butcher and mangle every single non-English name of the person or a place that it was almost impossible to enjoy such an amazing book. Shame!

Great book, awful narration

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
‘Sleepwalkers’ is an important, thorough, and well-written account of the steps that led to the First World War. Many myths are exploded, and new insights offered. Unfortunately, this reading is execrable. Basic foreign terms and famous names are badly mispronounced. Many English words are repeatedly mispronounced. The reading is at times slurred. The recording breaks off and is edited back together with obvious changes in volume. For such an impressive book, the unprofessional production is lamentable and distracting.

Great book, terrible reading

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Outstandingly good historical analysis and excellently written. The performer was just not up to this task - unable to pronounce key terms and names (whether English or other) and adopted a gratingly arch tone totally incompatible with the material.

Great book poorly performed

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
As a German, I had to sit through countless hours of history lessons in high school that drummed into me how Germany was the clear culprit that caused the two World Wars. this was mostly based on an overly simplistic view of the world in 1914, and the lack of the internet as a resource for better study. now as an adult, it is fantastic to have such a brilliantly researched masterpiece to get a much better understanding of the complexities of the situation back then. it was eye opener to me. not in the way that it would absolve Germany from its share of the guilt for starting this war, but rather in showing how stupendously difficult it was back then to make clear and rational decisions. the title "sleepwalkers" is the perfect metaphor for what ultimately happened. for any history but, this is mandatory reading. and for every European, it should be.

should be required reading for every European!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.