Dikke Bertha Posted 15 May , 2006 Share Posted 15 May , 2006 Hello I bought this booki recently and started to read it only yesterday. So far it is a bit difficult to grasp. Has anybody read this and does it get better?? Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toofatfortakeoff Posted 15 May , 2006 Share Posted 15 May , 2006 Not yet is it a British book and what was the cost-I always read a chapter in the book shop first to avoid disappointment... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Dunlop Posted 15 May , 2006 Share Posted 15 May , 2006 I have read it. Depends what you mean by 'better', Dikke. It is quite different from most histories. There are some very interesting perspectives that I have not seen elsewhere. It is not, however, like an official history. Look out for the different story about the meeting in which Foch was elected El Supremo. Persevere, but it is not a book I would recommend for someone who is just starting out in the quest to understand this phase of the war. Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dikke Bertha Posted 16 May , 2006 Author Share Posted 16 May , 2006 Many thanks Robert Dunlop I am still wading through. I just find that it does not flow very well so far. I have read other books on 1918 but most of them concentrate on the attacks on the BEF and I had hoped that this might be broader. I won't give up yet and will pay particular attention to the appointment of Foch. Of interest so far is:- (a) the German opinion of the BEF in 1918 which is contrary to what I have read elsewhere, ( the suggestion that Haig did not enjoy a good relationship with Foch or Petain, © the German view that there were signs that the British were considering abandoning the Ypres salient, (d) the fact that the German Army continued to fight the Bolsheviks alongside the Finns after the Armistice This book is full of surprises....for me anyway Regarding your question toofatfortakeoff - yes it is a British book published by Tempus and retailing for £13.99. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dikke Bertha Posted 16 May , 2006 Author Share Posted 16 May , 2006 Please ignore the smiley in my post above. I don't know where it came from. It was supposed to be the letter b in brackets but came out as a smiley. I should preview posts in future. Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dikke Bertha Posted 23 May , 2006 Author Share Posted 23 May , 2006 Robert Dunlop I have read the section relating to the appointment of Foch. Did I miss something? Is there another version? The book is difficult to read but has many interesting facts which are new to me. It is not very complimentary about the British and especially Haig so far. I am surprised that there are no contributers leaping to the defence of the British. Maybe the book has not been widely read. Howeer I am still plodding on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenwoodman Posted 23 May , 2006 Share Posted 23 May , 2006 Not an easy book to read, DB, but it does give an excellent overview of the German 1918 offensives, based as it is on meticulous research of German sources. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert Dunlop Posted 23 May , 2006 Share Posted 23 May , 2006 I have read the section relating to the appointment of Foch. Did I miss something? Dikke, check the last complete paragraph on page 88. Quite at odds with Haig's later accounts of the meeting. Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dikke Bertha Posted 23 May , 2006 Author Share Posted 23 May , 2006 Greenwoodman Thank you. I have persisted and am enjoying the book so far. I am more than half way through and am finding it difficult to put down. Indeed I feel I should be taking extensive notes. Robert Dunlop This is what I mean. The author does explain that the story is different to what Haig recorded. Indeed the book is very critical of the British High Command and politicians and also of the army itself. This is quite at odds with anything I have read about the 1918 campaigns. As I said already, I am surprised that this book has not attracted controversy on the forum - unless it did and I missed it ! This is quite possible of course. Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dikke Bertha Posted 31 May , 2006 Author Share Posted 31 May , 2006 I finished this book at last. Overall it is a good book but I found it difficult to read for several reasons. My main complaint was the absence of sufficient maps and those there were did not have all of the main geographical locations listed nor did they set out the locations of all of the units. The text referred constantly to German offensive plans by their code name but not all are marked on the maps. This is a common problem and I wish publishers would take note. I had hoped for a broader view of the 1918 offensives and there is no doubt that the account is not anglocentric - which is a pleasant change. However it is very critical of the British generals, politicians, fighting methods and the fighting qualities of the ordinary soldiers. This is unusual and presumably not without foundation - all armies had their faults - but does get repetitive after a while. The author is particularly critical of Haig. I am sure that Haig and the BEF were not all that bad. I think Robert Dunlop summed it up earlier in this thread when he said it is not a book he would recommend for someone who is just starting out in the quest to understand this phase of the war. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Moretti Posted 29 June , 2006 Share Posted 29 June , 2006 I think Robert Dunlop summed it up earlier in this thread when he said it is not a book he would recommend for someone who is just starting out in the quest to understand this phase of the war. Having read several books which discuss this phase of the war (1918, The Last Act by Pitt, "The Swordbearers" by Corelli Barnett, "Douglas Haig, the Educated Soldier" and "To Win a War" by good old JT), am I to assume that it is something that would be recommended or suitable for me? I saw it, remembered it was mentioned on this board - and held off, because I wanted to double check and not waste my money. From what I've read, I think it would be my kind of book - I've done enough digging already to have my own perspective against which to compare it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dikke Bertha Posted 29 June , 2006 Author Share Posted 29 June , 2006 Justin Moretti I enjoyed this book but I have to say that it will disagree with some of the books you have read already. It is pitched from the German side which is a change and I liked that aspect. As mentioned the maps are not the best and the text can be a bit slow especially when he constantly refers to code names which you have forgotten. The maps are not always clear. Overall I enjoyed this book and if you see it in paperback the buy it without hesitation. Regards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenwoodman Posted 29 June , 2006 Share Posted 29 June , 2006 Try Postscript. Currently £4-99, I believe. German Offensives No connection with them, but have bought from them successfully. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Moretti Posted 23 July , 2006 Share Posted 23 July , 2006 Still fighting my way through it. DEFINITELY uncomplimentary about Haig and the BEF. I got quite a shock with the 'appointment of Foch' bit. One side or the other must be lying, and I'm sure that the other side would have been picked up on the facts long before this. Nice to see, however, that it doesn't hide Ludendorff's flaws either. The man was a tactical genius, but he couldn't keep his mind on the long-term objective. From that perspective, even Joffre was a better general. Oh, and his comment on the relative competence of French vs. British platoon leaders could have been somewhat more professionally stated too; contrasting experienced and battle-hardened French NCOs with poorly trained/chosen and inexperienced British officers would have been quite satisfactory, thank you; he did not have to use the expression "public school boys and chinless wonders". That's just perjorative and unprofessional, and it confirms my thinking as I work my way through this book that Kitchen has the stick out for the BEF. He also gives the Americans very little air time (I'm not quite up to the Battle of Amiens), putting forth in lurid detail Foch's and Petain's complaints that "Haig never helps" but hardly ever stopping to ask "What the hell are the God-knows-how-many tens of thousands of Americans waiting for?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dikke Bertha Posted 24 July , 2006 Author Share Posted 24 July , 2006 I did mention that it would disagree with other books - perhaps contrast would be a better word. Not a book for afficianados of Haig or the BEF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin Moretti Posted 24 July , 2006 Share Posted 24 July , 2006 Certainly not, no; and yes, I was warned. Still, Kitchen seems to be going out of his way to be Francophilic at the expense of the British and Germans. I shall have to see, when I get to the appropriate bits, what he makes of the American contribution (or people's frustration at the lack thereof, something which isn't communicated all that well compared to how the French felt about the allegedly same behaviour from Haig, who was at least engaged upon his front). In the book's defence, his scathing treatment of Ludendorff is something for which the Anglophobia can be excused - too many books that lash the BEF make the Germans out to be Immortal, Impeccable Gods of War by comparison, and it's nice to see that particular myth being given another thrust with the bayonet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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