These developments render cavalry obsolete and reduce infantry to trench warfare. But the rules of the game have changed as new weapons of mass destruction - machine guns, poison gas, flamethrowers, tanks and aircraft - wreak havoc on established conventions of war. Initially, the Great War is greeted on every side with patriotic fervor, confidence in military superiority and a widespread belief in a short war. In World War I's oft-told narrative, the rash, untimely assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand triggers an escalating diplomatic crisis as the major European powers find themselves reluctantly but inexorably drawn into open conflict because of a tangled web of alliances and treaties. The end result richly combines the authority of a scholarly work, the readability of popular nonfiction and the aesthetic power of a coffee-table photo essay. The text of his latest book, The War to End All Wars, is liberally illustrated with 118 images: four maps, a handful of portraits, and dozens of battlefield photographs. His work is characterized by lucid prose, primary source research and inviting book design - elements that now seem commonplace in youth nonfiction, thanks to his pioneering influence. Russell Freedman has set the gold standard in nonfiction for young people, having won virtually every award possible (including the prestigious Newbery Medal and three Newbery Honors).

War to end all wars