joerookery Posted 17 June , 2018 Share Posted 17 June , 2018 (edited) The German Failure in Belgium, August 1914--How Faulty Reconnaisance Exposed the Weakness of the Schlieffen Plan This should make academia sit up. Dr. Dennis Showalter is a professor emeritus of history and probably America's leading expert on German military history. Not sure when it will be released but this is not a rehash of what you have already read. https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/The-German-Failure-in-Belgium-August-1914/ Edited 17 June , 2018 by joerookery Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
593jones Posted 20 June , 2018 Share Posted 20 June , 2018 That looks very interesting. I wonder what Terence Zuber's opinion will be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CountryJohn Posted 20 June , 2018 Share Posted 20 June , 2018 Available on UK Amazon for pre-order with a publication date of 30th September 2018. A healthy £44.95 at the moment. CJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joerookery Posted 21 June , 2018 Author Share Posted 21 June , 2018 Believe it or not I have never met Mr. Zuber. His analysis conclusions differ widely from ours. It was his response to Janet's review of his book on Liège that motivated us to look at this in the first place. I think you will find this to be a different set of conclusions than Mr. Zuber would have. We look at this operationally – and militarily – after a long series of mistakes and missteps the Germans almost pulled it off when first contacting the BEF around Mons. They could have ended the entire war but it was not to be. Fog and friction of war in the Clausewitzian sense ruled the day. As Dr. Showalter details, much of this failure and friction was self-induced in the German system. I think you'll find this significantly different than many academic works you have read. At least we think so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Ibis Posted 21 June , 2018 Share Posted 21 June , 2018 Just when I got to the point where I liked the order of books I was going to read, you go and post this! Thanks for the heads up, Joe. Can't wait to read it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joerookery Posted 21 June , 2018 Author Share Posted 21 June , 2018 I'll be interested to hear what you think. Though we are only 1% into it our next book is on the Handstreich at Liège. I think many readers in the United Kingdom have not been well served with what transpired before the BEF was involved with the conflict directly. I eagerly await thoughts of others who are true enthusiasts and knowledgeable. This is not a Zuber treatment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
josquin Posted 22 June , 2018 Share Posted 22 June , 2018 (edited) Joe, I am looking forward to your forthcoming analysis of the factors contributing to Germany's lack of success in the Belgian campaign of 1914. A balanced, well-documented assessment of operations and high-level command decisions is particularly welcome to clarify much that has remained inexplicable concerning the events of the opening year of the war. Your work and Jack Sheldon's are definitive resources for Great War studies, as a comprehensive, informed understanding of of the German Army has been absent from the English-language histories. Josquin Edited 22 June , 2018 by josquin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joerookery Posted 22 June , 2018 Author Share Posted 22 June , 2018 Thank you for the compliment but I think Jack Sheldon is in a far higher league. He has a broad grasp of the entire war and does a better job telling a story. I feel like a one trick pony and when I get beyond September 1914 I really am getting out of my depth. I think that you are absolutely correct about multilingual sources. It is sometimes amazing to me that United Kingdom and United States have relied far too much on English-language interpretations. Having gotten some great help from Dutch sources in this book as we looked at the Maastricht appendix, I am extremely excited about some of Jan's works being translated into English. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joerookery Posted 28 June , 2018 Author Share Posted 28 June , 2018 On the American side of the pond in military history there is no higher honor than that given to our co-author in this book. Sort of a cross between the Oscars and the Pulitzer and the $100,000 is nothing to sneeze at. Now if we can only get the publisher to lower the price point! http://www.koaa.com/story/38508948/a-military-scholar-has-received-a-100000-prize http://www.pritzkermilitary.org/explore/pritzker-literature-award/dennis-showalter-2018-pritzker-literature-award-winner/# Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
28juni14 Posted 29 June , 2018 Share Posted 29 June , 2018 I haven't seen Dennis in decades; is he still teaching at Colorado College ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdr Posted 29 June , 2018 Share Posted 29 June , 2018 looking forward to this Carl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joerookery Posted 29 June , 2018 Author Share Posted 29 June , 2018 (edited) Dennis retired from Colorado college but maintains his emeritus status. I know he has been in some discussions about joining or contributing to North Texas State and their military studies thing. Carl, me too! It will be very interesting to hear your comments. I am sure you have insights that we did not find. Now I am turning my attention to the Handstreich. Our trip to Belgium got canceled this year due to health complications. Maybe we will try again so that Janet can have the mussels!! Amongst other things, the Belgians certainly know how to eat and drink beer! Edited 29 June , 2018 by joerookery Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
German IR 169 Posted 29 June , 2018 Share Posted 29 June , 2018 Joe, Congratulations on the book and it sounds fascinating. Thanks for all you and Janet continue to do to further the study of the Great War, especially from the German angle. From personal experience, I well understand the challenges of getting a book into the marketplace and I applaud your tenacity to keep plugging away. I'm sorry that I missed you and Janet when I was residing in Scottsdale and have since moved to Virginia this past year. Hopefully our paths will cross. I look forward to future updates on the publishing of your book and wish it great success. Best Regards, John Rieth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joerookery Posted 30 June , 2018 Author Share Posted 30 June , 2018 I posted this in the society of military history page on Facebook. That is a mainly USA group. I do not know if there is a better place to post it on the forum, if there is I would appreciate being pointed that direction. An out-of-the-box idea As most of you know Dr. Dennis Showalter recently won the Pritzker award. There have been several postings on this site. As a result of his accomplishment, we have been contacted by the marketing people – at the very top of McFarland about several out-of-the-box ideas. So I am kind of putting together some sort of book tour/speaking venues for Dr. Showalter. After talking about this yesterday, I thought I would seek your help. He loves to travel, will work for expenses primarily, and is not teaching in the next year. So, he has time, motivation, a story to tell – at least ostensibly about this book but could go far afield- the background and an incredible experience with lecture and speaking as well as the moniker of the award. He has taught undergraduates for 50 years. What we lack and need your help with are ideas about who and where to offer this opportunity. Clearly, we know some. Not always a good point of contact. We are all old. 60s and 70s, retired, and with no interest or attempt to find work or a position. This is just an idea of possible venues and points of contact. That's all. We and McFarland we will do the rest. Yes, we are fully aware that nobody wants Joe and Janet. Dennis is the superstar and we're interested in maybe some travel acorns that we can find on the ground. Heck we are not even academics. So help me put a list together of venues for the "book tour" or whatever you think it should be called Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdr Posted 1 July , 2018 Share Posted 1 July , 2018 Joe If you are working on the "handstreich" , check out Der Handstreich gegen Lüttich vom 3. bis 7. August 1914 (herausgegeben vom generalstab des Heeres Berlin 1939) good luck with the tour ! Carl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulgranger Posted 1 July , 2018 Share Posted 1 July , 2018 17 hours ago, joerookery said: I posted this in the society of military history page on Facebook. That is a mainly USA group. I do not know if there is a better place to post it on the forum, if there is I would appreciate being pointed that direction. An out-of-the-box idea As most of you know Dr. Dennis Showalter recently won the Pritzker award. There have been several postings on this site. As a result of his accomplishment, we have been contacted by the marketing people – at the very top of McFarland about several out-of-the-box ideas. So I am kind of putting together some sort of book tour/speaking venues for Dr. Showalter. After talking about this yesterday, I thought I would seek your help. He loves to travel, will work for expenses primarily, and is not teaching in the next year. So, he has time, motivation, a story to tell – at least ostensibly about this book but could go far afield- the background and an incredible experience with lecture and speaking as well as the moniker of the award. He has taught undergraduates for 50 years. What we lack and need your help with are ideas about who and where to offer this opportunity. Clearly, we know some. Not always a good point of contact. We are all old. 60s and 70s, retired, and with no interest or attempt to find work or a position. This is just an idea of possible venues and points of contact. That's all. We and McFarland we will do the rest. Yes, we are fully aware that nobody wants Joe and Janet. Dennis is the superstar and we're interested in maybe some travel acorns that we can find on the ground. Heck we are not even academics. So help me put a list together of venues for the "book tour" or whatever you think it should be called Joe You could approach the Western Front Association. They have an extensive branch network. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joerookery Posted 1 July , 2018 Author Share Posted 1 July , 2018 5 hours ago, cdr said: Joe If you are working on the "handstreich" , check out Der Handstreich gegen Lüttich vom 3. bis 7. August 1914 (herausgegeben vom generalstab des Heeres Berlin 1939) good luck with the tour ! Carl Carl, I have it – used it on the last book and am having it translated to make sure I do not miss any nuances of the language. I do not yet have a comparable Belgian story. If you know of one I would be keenly interested. Unfortunately, my French language skills are hopeless. Janet is somewhat better, but I would not brag about our knowledge of French. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joerookery Posted 1 July , 2018 Author Share Posted 1 July , 2018 Quote Joe You could approach the Western Front Association. They have an extensive branch network. Paul, Absolutely! What a brilliant idea but what we lack is The Who. Who should we contact and work with? We do not really want to work our way up through the door guards. We might even be able to get Wolverhampton to pay for a plane flight. If that happens, we could let a bunch of branches know and see if it works into their schedules. This would be brilliant and if you can give us a point of contact email etc. we would be most appreciative. We know of David, but there must be a marketing guru that perhaps rides herd. I can easily see discounts on McFarland's books as well as potential advertising on some of the organs. I just need to know a name and an email. Thank you for your very kind suggestion! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joerookery Posted 1 July , 2018 Author Share Posted 1 July , 2018 On the issue of providing discounts on books. McFarland has 69 titles in their World War I section. https://mcfarlandbooks.com/shop/military/great-war/ We have a receptive ear at the marketing level and it was their suggestion to offer some sort of discount. No details yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yperman Posted 2 July , 2018 Share Posted 2 July , 2018 On 21/06/2018 at 17:45, joerookery said: I think many readers in the United Kingdom have not been well served with what transpired before the BEF was involved with the conflict directly. Next stop Amazon pre-book! I have often been struck by how little there is in English on the Belgian and French operations in the opening months of the war Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joerookery Posted 2 June , 2019 Author Share Posted 2 June , 2019 It is finally out – hallelujah. Link on Amazon.comuk. https://www.amazon.co.uk/German-Failure-Belgium-August-1914/dp/1476674620/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=German+failure+in+Belgium+August+1914&qid=1559480300&s=gateway&sr=8-1 They had the manuscript for over a year trying to edit place names written in four different languages. I guess we were not consistent. some of the review copies sent to American addresses have already been received. I do not know how long it takes to ship review copies to England, Holland or Australia. this is the link to the American Amazon.com. Looks like it is selling rapidly. https://www.amazon.com/German-Failure-Belgium-August-1914/dp/1476674620/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=German+failure+in+Belgium+August+1914&qid=1559480112&s=books&sr=1-1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joerookery Posted 2 June , 2019 Author Share Posted 2 June , 2019 Case study Having spent much of our lives as educators, I thought I might point out that in our opinion, this book is a perfect case study for educators, branch WFA meetings, classes, or other staff driven groups especially military units that often have to deal with solving the problems created by higher guidance. The case study could be conducted after reading only a few select pages and tackling a question that almost everybody has some knowledge of. This is not the battle of the Marne but rather the decision to avoid violating Dutch neutrality and force the Liege gap. Why did Moltke decide to do this? Why did the staff only offer a completely unworkable plan to force the Liege gap? Why did no one explain that the emperor had no clothes? Would you do the same? Did they do as Dr. Showalter said in a previous document: "commit suicide for fear of death?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Ibis Posted 4 June , 2019 Share Posted 4 June , 2019 Hi Joe. Congrats on the release. I look forward to reading. I didn't see a Kindle edition on Amazon. Is that in the works or did I miss it? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joerookery Posted 5 June , 2019 Author Share Posted 5 June , 2019 Thanks! But as to your question I do not know. As with a number of other things, that is a decision made by the publisher without consulting us. The last Kindle book I had we discovered when we looked at Amazon. We had no idea it was coming. Sorry I cannot help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Ibis Posted 6 June , 2019 Share Posted 6 June , 2019 Thanks Joe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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