The Mons myth. Terence Zuber

[Oldgit]

Hello all. Just finished The Mons myth. I wondered what others thought about it.

[Michelle Young]

You might like to have a read of this thread……

 

[Robert Dunlop]

Well, that thread is a real blast from the past. It reflected the time when there was still huge doubts about the validity of any German primary source content on the Great War. Things have moved on significantly since then. Thanks to the likes of Jack Sheldon, Nigel Cave, Jon Porter, Ralph Whitehead, Joe Robinson (aka joerookery), and many, many others, major analyses include the German perspective alongside the previous 'traditional' English-language sources.

Zuber wrote 'The Mons Myth' in the midst of the era of doubt. The style of his writing reflected this era. Along with other books that he wrote, the style did Zuber no favours. My concern at the time, however, was to do with the content itself. First up, it was very helpful that Zuber set out how German soldiers were trained. It opened the eyes of many to the fact that Germans were not trained to behave as automata. Joe Robinson, in particular, has gone on to provide a more balanced view of German training and pre-war preparations.

Second, Zuber quite rightly challenged British accounts of how the battle of Mons unfolded. He was not the first to do this. Jack and Nigel provided more balanced reviews at the time, also showing that German casualties were nowhere near as heavy as British sources made out for example.

My big concern with 'The Myth of Mons' is the selective nature of Zuber's quotes and focus. He gave the impression of a near-perfect execution of an encounter battle. In reality, Mons was not as 'perfect' from a German perspective. The one place where the Germans had greatest success, the seam between British 1st and 2nd Corps, was not exploited as German doctrine would have wished. The reasons for this are not covered by Zuber. The same issues would recur in other major battles during those first weeks of the war, to the detriment and ultimate failure of the German operational and strategic plans, as Joe Robinson has clearly shown for example.

As a result of reading 'The Myth of Mons', I worked with Holger Puttkammer to release "The Battle of Mons: The Official German Account" (ISBN: 9780993204609) in English translation (thanks also to Jack Sheldon). The goal was to balance Zuber's somewhat idealistic interpretation with the actual German contemporaneous view. 

In summary, 'The Myth of Mons' is a book of its time but is not the definitive account of the battle. It is best to regard the book as one of many and to treat many of the claims with caution.

Robert

[Oldgit]

Thanks. I very much appreciate your reply. I came to much the same conclusions. I shall look up your book 

Richard 

 

[Robert Dunlop]

No problem, Richard. Do check out the Machine Guns at Mons thread. It contains a lot of the material that came from the German official history, as well as details that I gleaned from the likes of British war diaries.

Robert