This unique volume offers a definitive new history of European economies at war from 1914 to 1918. It studies how European economies mobilised for war, how existing economic institutions stood up under the strain, how economic development influenced outcomes and how wartime experience influenced post-war economic growth. Leading international experts provide the first systematic comparison of economies at war between 1914 and 1918 based on the best available data for Britain, Germany, France, Russia, the USA, Italy, Turkey, Austria-Hungary and the Netherlands. The editors' overview draws some stark lessons about the role of economic development, the importance of markets and the damage done by nationalism and protectionism. A companion volume to the acclaimed The Economics of World War II, this is a major contribution to our understanding of total war.

"...a quite useful reference work, in addition to its importance as a description and analytical interpretation of the impact of warfare...all of the essays are written clearly, present considerable data, and are analytically sophisticated. This is a superb collection on a very important topic, and will repay reading by all economic historians."
- EH.NET, Stanley L. Engerman, University of Rochester

"...it is as a synthesis of the major economic statistics of the various powers of the war that the study is most valuable for understanding World War I. The amount of information about the economies of the states examined, for instance, is staggering and oftentimes fascinating. In addition, the book contains nearly 150 figures and tables that relate useful data, covering a wide range of subjects: GDP; battle and non-battle deaths; labor statistics; inflation; industrial and agricultural production--and a whole host of other interesting and important economic statistics."
- H-German, Nathan N. Orgill, Department of History, Duke University

"The editors' introduction is a valuable summary, and the country chapters provide consistent data for comparison and analysis." - Peter Temin, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

"The authors have succeeded admirably in offering a wide-ranging, empirically rich, and analytically informative comparison of economics at war between 1914 and 1918." - Larry Petereson, City University of New York The Historian