I tried asking this on /r/suggestmeabook but hadn't much luck.
I borrowed Martins Gilbert's First World War from my father's library but I don't like his writing. I find it boring and too centered on the British perspective.
So I did some research and The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914 seems like a good place to start. But I also want to get a book that covers the whole of the conflict to get the big picture. From what I could gather, these are some of the most praised (and easily available):
The Great War by Peter Hart
The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman
The First World War A New History by Hew Strachan
Which one do you guys recommend? Thanks.
War by Timetable by A.J.P. Taylor is an interesting read and very short. I am not sure how his theory stands among current historians of the period though.
I would also recommend Under Fire by Henri Barbusse and Storm of Steel by Ernst Junger if you want to get some first hand accounts.
The Great War by Peter Hart
Decent, better options out there, but this isn't a bad pickup certainly.
The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman
Meh, not a bad read, but don't waste your money unless you can find it dirt cheap.
The First World War A New History by Hew Strachan
Absolutely recommended, 100%
My own personal reccomendation is that you find a book called:
1914-1918 by David Stevenson, great book.
If you want a beefier version of that Hew Strachan work check out his work To Arms: Volume I. I'd also have to recommend Holger Herwigs The Marne. These two are the works which got me into this study :)
Bloody Victory, along with Through German Eyes and German Army on the Somme, along with War by Coalition and Pyrrhic Victory should be required reading for anyone trying to learn about the Somme in particular, the Great War on the Western Front in general.
War of Attrition is excellent; Tommy is also a must read.
Sleepwalkers is ok, but I would recommend you read Margaret MacMillan's book, The War That Ended Peace, Max Hastings's Catastrophe, and T. G. Otte's July Crisis first. Clark is good with explaining the lead up to the war, but he greatly mis-represents IMO German actions and motives.