History is written by the victors, and at least in English letters the story of the Great War is heavily focussed on the British and American side. The story of the Central Powers is less well known.
This book is an excellent cultural and in parts political history of the disasters that befell the “antagonists” in World War 1. You won’t find much about individual battles and campaigns, but there’s a lot to learn about the fate of refugees, the political organization of “Ober Ost” (the parts of Russia captured by Germany), and the differing handling of internal opinion by the Reich and the Empire/Kingdom.
WW1 gets overshadowed by WW2, but there are so many things that cannot be explained without it. Ludendorff’s craven attempt to deflect blame on Germany’s defeat on the civilian government laid the foundation to the myth that the army was “stabbed in the back”. Austria-Hungary’s uncontrolled breakup led to all manner of ills, not least Hungary’s desire to avenge the treary of Trianon. And of course, would the Bolsheviks have managed to take power unless Russia was losing an unpopular war?