Ring of Steel

Winner of the Guggenheim-Lehrman Prize in Military History
Winner of the Wolfson History Prize
The Society of Military History 2015 Distinguished Book Award Recipient
British Army Military Book of the Year

"In a year crowded with histories of World War I, Alexander Watson's Ring of Steel makes a truly indispensable contribution in allowing us to see from the inside out this disastrous alliance between Austria and imperial Germany.... It is a mark of talent in a historian to take familiar narratives and open them to new interpretation. Mr. Watson's book is a brilliant demonstration of this skill."

Ring of Steel is perhaps the most important of the current crop of [WWI] books -- and certainly one of the best."

"This book, at times gripping, at other times poignant, and always revealing, marks a valuable contribution to [the] debate on the war's place in twentieth-century history."

"Remarkable...the first comprehensive history of the war written from the perspective of the Central Powers."

"A fresh approach in analyzing the conflict.... Watson's main concern here is to try and figure out why the loss of the war for the central powers created the unstable states that emerged in the aftermath of the conflict. He finishes off the task he has set himself here with considerable precision and skill."

"British historians have tended to view the Great War predominantly from the side of the Allies. Watson has done our understanding an inestimable service by examining these familiar events from the perspective of the Central Powers."

"In a year dominated by memories of the First World War, this supremely accomplished book stands out. Not only does it look at the conflict from the perspective of the losing Central Powers, imperial Germany and Austria-Hungary, but it brings together political, military, economic and cultural history in an enormously impressive narrative."

"Watson has contributed a definitive resource to the literature on the strategic enigma being debated during the centennial of WW I."

"Illuminating...an outstanding book that has been scrupulously researched. I highly recommend this book to students of World War I and indeed anyone who wants to see how the Central Powers dealt with the stresses of war on the homefront. They will not find a better, fairer history because it has not yet been written."