Hello David,
There are so many books written on the Great War, one has to be careful - many are poor, inaccurate, and based on anecdotal views and shallow research. The 'Lions Led by Donkeys' myth has well and truly been busted by sound academic research over the past 30 years.
A few you may be interested in reading. IMO by far the best book on the opening phase of the Great War on the Western Front is Sewell Tyng's The Campaign of the Marne. Written in 1935 it still stands the test of time, and it hasn't been bettered by more recent books. Other soundly researched works are Nick Lloyd's Loos 1915, Passchendaele: The Lost Victory of World War I, and The Western Front. Books written by Peter Simkins (eg From the Somme to Victory: The British Army's Experience on the Western Front 1916-1918) and Gary Sheffield ( eg, Command and Morale: The British Army on the Western Front 1914-18, Forgotten Victory: The First World War - Myths and Realties, Command and Control on the Western Front: The British Army's Experience 1914-18 (ed with Dan Todman)and Douglas Haig: From the Somme to Victory) are well worth reading. Spencer Jones has edited four very fine anthologies written by various historians - Stemming the Tide: Officers and Leadership in the British Expeditionary Force 1914, Courage without Glory: The British on the Western Front, 1915, At All Costs: The British Army on the Western Front, 1916, and The Darkest Year: The British Army on the Western Front 1917. A 1918 volume is also coming out. See also works by John Terraine (eg White Heat: The New Warfare 1914-1918, The Smoke and the Fire: Myths and Antimyths of War 1861-1945, and To Win a War: 1918, The Year of Victory). Ian Beckett, Timothy Bowman and Mark Connelly The British Army and the First World War, and Aimee Fox Learning to Fight: Military Innovation and Change in the British Army 1914-1918 are very good.
Four excellent books on the French involvement are Robert A Doughty's Pyrrhic Victory: French Strategy and Operations in the Great War, Michel Goya's Flesh and Steel During the Great War: The Transformation of the French Army and the Invention of Modern Warfare, and Elizabeth Greenhalgh's The French Army and the First World War and Foch in Command: The Forging of a First World War General. Charles Messenger's The Day We Won the War: Turning Point at Amiens 8 August 1918 is very good.
Jack Sheldon has written a several good books on the German Army - The German Army on Vimy Ridge 1914-1917, The German Army at Passchendaele, The German Army in the Spring Offensives 1917 Arras, Aisne and Champagne, The German Army on the Somme 1914-1916 etc. His best IMO is Fighting the Somme: German Challenges, Dilemmas and Solutions.
For Gallipoli see Rhys Crawley and Michael Locicero (Editors ) Gallipoli: New Perspectives on the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, 1915-16 for a range of chapters written by various historians ( some excellent, others not so good), Rhys Crawley's Climax at Gallipoli: The Failure of the August Offensive is first class. From the Ottoman perspective Edward J Erickson's Gallipoli: The Ottoman Campaign and Gallipoli: Command Under Fire are good.
The Australian Army Campaign Series (Big Sky Publishing) has a range of excellent books on the Australian involvement (A$20 each which are a steal for such high quality publications) including Mesut Uyar's The Ottoman Defence Against the Anzac Landing 25 April 1915. There are others I could recommend, but the above should keep you going for a couple of years.
Cheers
Chris
