To Play a Giants Part - The role of the British Army at Passchendaele

[Whizzbang]

Hi All

Has anybody purchased or read the above book by Alan Robert Perry ?

Or seen any reviews ? All I can find is the Naval & Military Press blurb + a review on Amazon which mirrors the N&M précis.

Many thanks

[paulgranger]

I have bought this, but not yet read it. It is a very fat A4 book,and it looks a bit daunting. It seems to have originally been written in 2007, and the author decided to write it in dedication to his grandfather who fought at Ypres. Can't say yet if it's good or bad,but it does seem to be a labour of love.

[Whizzbang]

Thanks Paul - be interested to hear what it's like

[fellop]

I have the book and am about a third of the way through it. I have to say that the early part, Chapt 1 parts 1,2 and 3 were a little [well for me at least] heavy going though thankfully Robert Perry thought to add notes at the bottom of each page and very cleverly used a 'Blue Text' on the page to indicate or highlight quotes within the overall text.

It is a large book but very deeply researched. This is not something to slip into your pocket but rather to settle down with for a couple of hours at a go.

I am enjoying it and Perry's revisionist views.

Regards

Peter

[squirrel]

I agree with fellop - about two thirds of the way through reading a little at a time. Very detailed and very interesting.

[paulgranger]

I have bought this, but not yet read it. It is a very fat A4 book,and it looks a bit daunting. It seems to have originally been written in 2007, and the author decided to write it in dedication to his grandfather who fought at Ypres. Can't say yet if it's good or bad,but it does seem to be a labour of love.

[Whizzbang]

Sounds interesting - is it a straight forward "academic" retelling of the battle or is it an "easier" read with personal recollections included ?

Are there many contemporary photos /trench maps etc ?

Many thanks

[squirrel]

More acedemic with numerous war diary and OH references and descriptions of each stage of the battle. A few photographs and a number of trench maps - the trench maps are alongside the various stages.

[Whizzbang]

Thanks Squirrel

[Wayne Harris]

I think I must have nearly every book written on this battle..

 

Road to Passchendaele - John Terraine

They called it Passchendaele - Lyn Macdonald

Road to Passchendaele - Richard Van Emden

Passchendaele - Paul Ham

Passchendaele - Nick Lloyd

Passchendaele in perspective - Peter Liddle

The Passchendaele campaign - Andrew Rawson

Passchendaele 1917 - Robert Parker

Passchendaele the untold story - Prior & Wilson

Passchendaele the hollow victory - Matric Evans

The German army at Passchendaele - Jack Sheldon

Passchendaele - Peter Barton

Passchendaele 1917 landscape of war - Lee Ingelbrecht

Passchendaele the sacrificial ground - Hart & Steel

Passchendaele the fight for the village - Nigel Cave

A moonlit massacre - Michael LoCicero

In Flanders fields - Leon Wolff

Passchendaele - Phillip Warner

 

Would "to play a giant's part" be a worthy addition to these?

 

I've also seen a book called "Through the mud:Passchendaele 1917" by Penny Burton, however cannot find any reviews of this if anyone has read it?

 

Also any other titles I may have missed?

 

Many thanks

 

[WilliamRev]

 

Hi Wayne,

 

I have just finished my MA dissertation on the Battle of Polygon Wood, and own 13 of the books that you mention above, plus Passchendaele: The Day-by-Day Account by Chris McCarthy (London: Arms and Armour Press, 1995) and Robert A Perry' To Play a Giant's part (Uckfield: Naval and Military Press Ltd., 2014)

 

To Play a Giant's Part is A4 size, with 600 pages. It analyses each of the battles of Third Ypres at Divisional, Brigade and battalion level, taking the details from hundreds of unit war diaries, and pays plenty of attention to the German forces as well. It is a superb book which deserves a far greater readership. For anyone interested in Third Ypres at a tactical level it is absolutely essential.

 

McCarthy's book, mentioned above, is great if you can get hold of a copy, although his maps of the 3rd and 59th Divisions on 26 September 1917 at Polygon Wood (pages 90 and 92) contain some fundamental errors.

 

I heartily wish that I had not wasted my money on Paul Ham's Passchendaele: Requiem for to Doomed Youth. It has a very extensive bibliography, and I wish that the author had shown signs of having actually read some of the books he mentions.)

 

William

Edited 25 February , 2018 by WilliamRev

[Wayne Harris]

Hi William

 

Many thanks for your post, I do have McCarthy's Passchendaele Day-by-Day (I also have his Somme book), just forgot to mention as on a different shelf to my main collection. Ham's book is on my pile to read, albeit it has found itself getting closer to the bottom of the pile with each review I read! Naval & Military Press have just launched a new website, with a 25% offer, so it makes "To play a Giants Part" £16.50, so will give it a go.

 

Kind regards

 

Wayne

[WilliamRev]

Great Wayne, you won't regret it!

 

William

[stiletto_33853]

On the pile to read, but having read these posts I think it will have to be the next one.

 

Andy

[hazelclark]

I agree with all of the above but to be honest, I am having trouble reading the book owing to the huge size and weight. 

Am not even quarter of the way through, but although thoroughly and painstakingly researched, I will be interested in his final conclusions. So far, some of his analysis is based on his interpretation of documents, regarding which, others have drawn different views. In some cases he presents different evidence to support his view but sometimes he just interprets the same documents differently.

The book is certainly making me pay attention, and his use of highlighting important facts makes this a great book for students, but I think it would take someone with greater knowledge than I to pass judgement.  

The Lloyd book (Passchendaele. A New History )didn’t leave me with this feeling, but am not that far into it yet. Is anyone else feeling the same?

Hazel

 

[hazelclark]

On 23/02/2015 at 12:38, fellop said:

I have the book and am about a third of the way through it. I have to say that the early part, Chapt 1 parts 1,2 and 3 were a little [well for me at least] heavy going though thankfully Robert Perry thought to add notes at the bottom of each page and very cleverly used a 'Blue Text' on the page to indicate or highlight quotes within the overall text.

It is a large book but very deeply researched. This is not something to slip into your pocket but rather to settle down with for a couple of hours at a go.

I am enjoying it and Perry's revisionist views.

Regards

Peter

I am curious to know if you ever finished this book??

Hazel C.

[fellop]

On 12/06/2018 at 04:13, hazelclark said:

I am curious to know if you ever finished this book??

Hazel C.

 

Sad to say I have not yet completely read this book cover to cover; however this is by no mean the fault of the author or the content of the book. I have had to take time to deal with some health issues of a close family member and reorganize elements of our daily lifestyle. I still make time to read and research but To Play a Giants Part is not that type of book for me. Though not new to military subjects [I served for 25 years] and WW1 research but I find I really need to concentrate when with this book and often I re-read the same page more than once to make myself understand what the author is trying to explain or tell me. It is a book I will return to fully because I do wish to understand more in detail about this subject albeit from the author’s point of view.  

[hazelclark]

59 minutes ago, fellop said:

 

Sad to say I have not yet completely read this book cover to cover; however this is by no mean the fault of the author or the content of the book. I have had to take time to deal with some health issues of a close family member and reorganize elements of our daily lifestyle. I still make time to read and research but To Play a Giants Part is not that type of book for me. Though not new to military subjects [I served for 25 years] and WW1 research but I find I really need to concentrate when with this book and often I re-read the same page more than once to make myself understand what the author is trying to explain or tell me. It is a book I will return to fully because I do wish to understand more in detail about this subject albeit from the author’s point of view.  

The reason I asked was that I have not finished it either, for exactly the same reasons.  The time never seems right for me to get back to it, which does say something about both the book and my attention span.  I have been tending to read books that are “easy” to read lately but wouldn’t be able to answer exam questions on these either.

Hazel