Summing Up World War I in 500 Words or Less

While also remaining neutral...

This book I’m working on is a glossary – meaning you can look up a word you run across while reading an Agatha Christie mystery novel – so the “writing” part isn't more than a sentence or, at most, a paragraph. But in talking with editors, we have decided that an introductory chapter for each book would be a good idea. These essays, or whatever you call them, wouldn’t be long, but would provide space for a deeper dive into some topics. 

The first book Christie published, “The Mysterious Affair at Styles,” takes place during World War I. While the murder and its solution don’t depend on the war, it certainly colors all of the action. Wartime living affects every character and it’s the reason Poirot and Hastings meet at Styles, launching their friendship and collaboration that continues in the books to come. 

While most of us studied some world history during school days and may have watched a few war movies since we certainly don’t have the same background as Christie’s readers who had just experienced the war first-hand. Details that modern readers skip over without even realizing it had much more significance to folks reading “Styles” in the 1920s. So it seemed logical that this first essay should give an overview of the war, Britain’s relationship with Belgium, and how the English citizens were being affected at home. 

Since whole libraries of books have been written on this subject from every point of view, doing the research and boiling it all down to a few hundred words was quite a challenge! Cozy mystery readers probably aren’t interested in slogging through a long treatise on World War I, but having a basic understanding increases those “aha!” moments, giving them the distinction of being “in the know.” 

I love learning about history if it’s about customs, clothing, food, and so on. War strategies and political squabbling enthrall me much less. Still, much of it was quite interesting and I have to admit that looking at the war from the book’s point of view made it more engaging.

Even though I tried hard to sound extremely neutral in stating the facts, I’m a little nervous that real WWI experts will dispute my summary and rake me over the coals. I’m thinking maybe I should have a historian look it over, although they probably have their own viewpoint which may still get me in trouble!

Shaw, Byam, artist. “Answer the call of the London Rifle Brigade.” 1915. From Library of Congress: British World War I Poster. https://lccn.loc.gov/2003668162 (accessed May 14, 2021).