In analyzing the causes of World War I without concern for the question of guilt, the author places emphasis on two central facts: first, that when statesmen and peoples took actions they knew might lead to war, they were not envisaging the catastrophe that the war became but rather a quick and limited war; and, second, that among the many conflicts that might have led to war, the one that did was the threat to the integrity of Austria-Hungary posed by Serbia and Serb nationalism.
Title of related interest also available from Waveland Press: Williamson-Van Wyk, July 1914: Soldiers, Statesmen, and the Coming of the Great WarA Documentary History (ISBN 9781478622864).
