- Paperback: 400 pages
- Publisher: HarperCollins; Reprint edition (2001)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0060084332
- ISBN-13: 978-0060084332
- Product Dimensions: 20.4 x 13.4 x 2.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,374,702 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
Based on previously unused French and German sources, this challenging and controversial new analysis of the war on the Western front from 1914 to 1918 reveals how and why the Germans won the major battles with one-half to one-third fewer casualties than the Allies, and how American troops in 1918 saved the Allies from defeat and a negotiated peace with the Germans.
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First Sentence
The issues that determined how the Great War would be fought stemmed from the French war with Germany in 1870, the postwar responses to the defeat by the new French government, and the responses of the German Army to meet France's constantly shifting war plans. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
The issues that determined how the Great War would be fought stemmed from the French war with Germany in 1870, the postwar responses to the defeat by the new French government, and the responses of the German Army to meet France's constantly shifting war plans. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a deeply flawed but compelling presentation of the fighting on the Western Front 1914-1918. The author relies on casualty statistics to demonstrate the skill of the Germans and the ineptitude of the Franco-British military effort. This is all very well if the figures are properly compared and evaluated, but in this study the statistics are presented in a very misleading way. Without wishing to expose readers of this review to a boring and unpalatable compilation of casualty statistics, it is enough to say that Mosier uses minimal estimates of German fatalities and compares them with the highest reports of French and British losses. For example, when the German medical history - a source which Mosier relies upon - tabulated the number of Germans killed, it did not include the very large number who were reported as missing and who were actually dead, or the wounded who died from their wounds. If these categories were included, the actual number of German battle deaths would be roughly double the number who were posted as killed in action, a fact that Mosier does not make sufficient allowance for. On the other hand, he presents us with figures for Allied dead which include the missing and the died from wounds, thereby making them appear two or three times higher than those of the Germans. In fact they were probably more like one and a half times as great, which, considering the fact that the Germans enjoyed so many tactical advantages in terms of terrain and firepower, does not reflect so much discredit upon the French and British military as Mosier would have us believe.
With that caveat, I have to admit that there is much to commend in this book. The description of German successes in local offensives in the Argonne and elsewhere in 1915 is superb. The standard of writing is high, and, even if you - as do I - profoundly disagree with Mosier's contention, you will find this a most thought provoking and readable book.
Had it not been for the distortion inherent in his presentation of casualty statistics, I would have given Mosier's book four or even five stars.
With that caveat, I have to admit that there is much to commend in this book. The description of German successes in local offensives in the Argonne and elsewhere in 1915 is superb. The standard of writing is high, and, even if you - as do I - profoundly disagree with Mosier's contention, you will find this a most thought provoking and readable book.
Had it not been for the distortion inherent in his presentation of casualty statistics, I would have given Mosier's book four or even five stars.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I have read numerous books on the Great War and found this to be a breath of fresh air. Mosier shows, mainly through casualty figures how the germans were much more successful on the western front than the allies. Where the book falls down is in his inability to explain the reasons for the eventual german defeat and his biased view of the AEF. Using the casualty figures that he bases most of his argument on, it is apparent that the AEF was no more effective/efficient in the attack than the British or French.
4 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Immensely readable and packed with alarming statistics, the author confirms what other writers have long said; the Germans were better organised, better trained, better led, and for several years more heavily armed and supplied than their Allied opposition.
The authors claim that the US Army in the shape of the AEF under Gen. Pershing had superior tactics and training to apply on the battlefield is never fully developed. In fact scant detail emerges that can support such a claim. The bald casualty statistics quoted by the author may be the truth but do not tell the whole story. If the enemy is not in strength in your area casualties are therefore going to be lighter.
Even though the book fails to convince regarding its main thrust there is plenty of excellent material within to ponder and debate. A good read.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Brave new history
I have read many histories of the Great War. This is the first one that tries to explain why the German empire was able to hold three fronts at once and smash all Allied attacks to... Read more
Published on 22 Feb 2007 by patrick 1916
Exciting and informative
This book is an in-depth analysis of World War I that reaches an interesting conclusion: that the German's training, tactics, ability to adapt, and reliance on firepower over... Read more
Published on 23 Sep 2003 by Kurt A. Johnson
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