The distinctive achievement of The Sleepwalkers is Clark's single-volume survey of European history leading up to the war. That may sound dull. Quite the contrary. It is as if a light had been turned on a half-darkened stage of shadowy characters cursing among themselves without reason…The brilliance of Clark's far-reaching history is that we are able to discern how the past was genuinely prologue. The participants were conditioned to keep walking along a precipitous escarpment, sure of their own moral compass, but unknowingly impelled by a complex interaction of deep-rooted cultures, patriotism and paranoia, sediments of history and folk memory, ambition and intrigue…In conception, steely scholarship and piercing insights, [Clark's] book is a masterpiece.

…easily the best book ever written on this subject. The Sleepwalkers is a work of rare beauty that combines meticulous research with sensitive analysis and elegant prose. The enormous weight of its quality inspires amazement and awe.

WWI is frequently described as a long-fused inevitable conflict, yet this comprehensively researched, gracefully written account of the war’s genesis convincingly posits a bad brew of diplomatic contingencies and individual agency as the cause. Clark, history professor at Cambridge University, begins by describing the interactions of Serbia and Austria-Hungary, which sparked the conflict. He presents the former as a “raw and fragile democracy” whose “turbulent” politics challenged a neighboring empire held together by habit. Indeed, the instability across Europe further polarized alliance networks—foreign policies were shaped by “ambiguous relationships... and adversarial competitions” that obfuscated intentions. Nevertheless, the European system demonstrated “a surprising capacity for crisis management.” But even the détente years of 1912–1914 were characterized by “persistent uncertainty in all quarters about the intentions of friends and potential foes alike.” Beginning with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, that uncertainty informed the burgeoning crisis—Austria-Hungary’s hesitation allowed Russia to frame the event as a tyrant “cut down by citizens of his own country”; Britain and France offered no challenge to the narrative; and Germany “counted on the localization of the Austro-Serbian conflict.” Instead Russia escalated the crisis by mobilizing, Britain by hesitating, and Germany by panicking: Europe sleepwalked into “a tragedy.” B&w illus., 7 maps. Agent: Andrew Wylie, the Wylie Agency. (Apr.)

An important book. . . . One of the most impressive and stimulating studies of the period ever published.” — Max Hastings, The Sunday Times

“Excellent. . . . The book is stylishly written as well as superb scholarship. No analysis of the origins of the First World War will henceforth be able to bypass this magisterial work.” — Ian Kershaw, BBC History

“The most readable account of the origins of the First World War since Barbara Tuchman’s The Guns of August. The difference is that The Sleepwalkers is a lovingly researched work of the highest scholarship.” — Niall Ferguson

“This compelling examination of the causes of World War I deserves to become the new standard one-volume account of that contentious subject.” — Foreign Affairs

“Clark is a masterly historian. . . . His account vividly reconstructs key decision points while deftly sketching the context driving them. . . . A magisterial work.” — The Wall Street Journal

“A monumental new volume. . . . Revelatory, even revolutionary. . . . Clark has done a masterful job explaining the inexplicable.” — The Boston Globe

“Easily the best book ever written on the subject. . . . A work of rare beauty that combines meticulous research with sensitive analysis and elegant prose. The enormous weight of its quality inspires amazement and awe. . . . Academics should take note: Good history can still be a good story.” — The Washington Post

“A meticulously researched, superbly organized, and handsomely written account.” — MHQ: The Quarterly Journal of Military History

“Superb. . . . One of the great mysteries of history is how Europe’s great powers could have stumbled into World War I. . . . This is the single best book I have read on this important topic.” — Fareed Zakaria

“A thoroughly comprehensive and highly readable account. . . . The brilliance of Clark’s far-reaching history is that we are able to discern how the past was genuinely prologue. . . . In conception, steely scholarship and piercing insights, his book is a masterpiece.” — Harold Evans, The New York Times Book Review

“As spacious and convincing a treatment as has yet appeared. . . . Clark’s prose is clear and laced with color.” — The Daily Beast

“A great book. . . An amazing narrative history of the crisis and the larger context.” — Slate

“A superb account of the causes of the first world war. . . . Clark brilliantly puts this illogical conflict into context.” — The Guardian

“This book is as authoritative as it is gripping. . . . Clark provides a vivid panorama of the jostling among Europe’s policymakers. . . . The reader is rapt as ‘watchful but unseeing’ protagonists head for inconceivable horror.” — The Independent

“Excellent. . . . Where Clark excels is in explaining how the pre-war diplomatic maneuvers resembled a giant exercise in game theory.”- — The Economist

“Clark’s narrative sophistication, his philosophical awareness, and his almost preternatural command of his sources make The Sleepwalkers an exemplary instance of how to navigate this tricky terrain. The best book on the origins of the First World War that I know.” — Thomas Laqueur, The London Review of Books

“One of 2013’s finest nonfiction books. . . . Offers more up-to-date scholarship than you’ll find in a classic like Barbara Tuchman’s The Guns of August.” — Matthew Yglesias, Slate

Superb. . . . One of the great mysteries of history is how Europe’s great powers could have stumbled into World War I. . . . This is the single best book I have read on this important topic.

An important book. . . . One of the most impressive and stimulating studies of the period ever published.

Clark is a masterly historian. . . . His account vividly reconstructs key decision points while deftly sketching the context driving them. . . . A magisterial work.

Excellent. . . . The book is stylishly written as well as superb scholarship. No analysis of the origins of the First World War will henceforth be able to bypass this magisterial work.

A monumental new volume. . . . Revelatory, even revolutionary. . . . Clark has done a masterful job explaining the inexplicable.

A meticulously researched, superbly organized, and handsomely written account.

Easily the best book ever written on the subject. . . . A work of rare beauty that combines meticulous research with sensitive analysis and elegant prose. The enormous weight of its quality inspires amazement and awe. . . . Academics should take note: Good history can still be a good story.

A thoroughly comprehensive and highly readable account. . . . The brilliance of Clark’s far-reaching history is that we are able to discern how the past was genuinely prologue. . . . In conception, steely scholarship and piercing insights, his book is a masterpiece.

This compelling examination of the causes of World War I deserves to become the new standard one-volume account of that contentious subject.

The most readable account of the origins of the First World War since Barbara Tuchman’s The Guns of August. The difference is that The Sleepwalkers is a lovingly researched work of the highest scholarship.

A superb account of the causes of the first world war. . . . Clark brilliantly puts this illogical conflict into context.

One of 2013’s finest nonfiction books. . . . Offers more up-to-date scholarship than you’ll find in a classic like Barbara Tuchman’s The Guns of August.

This book is as authoritative as it is gripping. . . . Clark provides a vivid panorama of the jostling among Europe’s policymakers. . . . The reader is rapt as ‘watchful but unseeing’ protagonists head for inconceivable horror.

Clark’s narrative sophistication, his philosophical awareness, and his almost preternatural command of his sources make The Sleepwalkers an exemplary instance of how to navigate this tricky terrain. The best book on the origins of the First World War that I know.

Excellent. . . . Where Clark excels is in explaining how the pre-war diplomatic maneuvers resembled a giant exercise in game theory.”-

A great book. . . An amazing narrative history of the crisis and the larger context.

As spacious and convincing a treatment as has yet appeared. . . . Clark’s prose is clear and laced with color.

A great book. . . An amazing narrative history of the crisis and the larger context.

"For those who enjoy excellent scholarship joined with logical composition and an easy style of writing, save a (wide) spot on your bookshelf for Clark's work." —Kirkus

A meticulously researched, superbly organized, and handsomely written account.

A massive, wide-ranging chronicle of the events, personalities and failures of the run-up to World War I. Clark (Modern European History/Univ. of Cambridge; Iron Kingdom: The Rise and Downfall of Prussia, 1600–1947, 2006, etc.) lays out the long and violent history of Serbian nationalism, the confusion in the dying Austro-Hungarian empire and the struggle for dominance between the British and Russian empires. While explaining the irredentist mindset of Serbia then, the author also illuminates the causes of the Balkan unrest that erupted again in the 1990s. Surely he read every journal, letter, accounting and government document related to every nation and player in this period; indeed, there are points where some readers may wonder if this is a case of research rapture. Patience will be necessary to wade through the myriad details. However, given the vast amount of available material on World War I and the daunting task of trying to produce a readable account, Clark has succeeded admirably. The most remarkable fact about the crisis that led to this war is that none of those involved had any clue as to the intentions of not only their enemies, but also their allies. In fact, they weren't absolutely sure who the enemy would be. Consequently, many, including Czar Nicholas II and Kaiser Wilhelm II, tried to head off the conflict right up to the end, each waiting for someone to do something as the world stumbled into war. For readers who seek a quick overview of one of the most convoluted periods in history, look elsewhere. For those who enjoy excellent scholarship joined with logical composition and an easy style of writing, save a (wide) spot on your bookshelf for Clark's work.