A Concise Account of All the Major Battles, Innovations, and Political Events of the First World War by an Important Military Analyst An abridgement of the author's History of the World War, 1914-1918, and first published in 1936, World War I in Outline is a compact but comprehensive history of the "war to end all wars." Divided into five parts representing each year of the war, Liddell Hart discusses the war on land, at sea, and in the air while skillfully incorporating the political events occurring at the same time. From his own experiences in the war and through studying the conflict in detail, the author developed and expressed his most important observation about military principles: direct attacks against an enemy firmly in position should not be attempted. He also put forth the notion that battles are more often decided by the commander's actions and not the armies themselves. A lively and engrossing read, World War I in Outline is an ideal overview in time for the centennial of one of the major wars in history.