First World War Summary – Katja Hoyer Extract and Comprehension

This resource features a carefully chosen extract from Katja Hoyer’s acclaimed book Blood and Iron, providing a clear and engaging summary of the First World War up to the battles of Verdun and the Somme.

The reading is supported by eight comprehension questions designed to help students engage with extended historical writing and develop their ability to extract key information from scholarly texts. It works particularly well with Year 9 students, encouraging them to read beyond standard textbooks and explore a historian’s perspective.

The activity is highly flexible — it can be used as an introductory lesson to the First World War, as a homework task, or as a recap activity at the end of a unit. The questions are suitable for individual work, paired discussion, or guided reading sessions, making it easy to adapt to different teaching contexts.

Ideal for KS3 History, this resource supports literacy, historical knowledge, and critical thinking skills. It also provides an accessible way to expose students to high-quality historical scholarship.

All profits from this resource are donated to charitable causes, including refugee support, youth sports, educational programmes, and environmental carbon capture projects — making our work carbon negative.