Chosen as an Outstanding Academic Book of 1997 by Choice

"This important study is a mandatory acquisition for libraries with serious collections on the 20th century."--CHOICE

"A short review cannot do full justice to the thoroughness of Stevenson's arguments or his careful integration of diplomatic analysis with the consequent military and budget decision processes. This volume deserves the widest possible circulation...It provides a set of key understandings about the road to war in the age of 1914, or in 1997."--Journal of Military History

"[E]nhances and clarifies our understanding of the devastating decisions reached in July 1914."--American Historical Review

"Stevenson's book...is one that specialists cannot afford to miss....[T]he account is rigorous, detailed, and demanding, yet consistently readable and clear."--The Key Reporter

"[W]ill certainly become the definitive study of the relationship between armaments and the origins of the First World War....[R]ich and complex work."--International History Review