The Great War explained

[Chris_Baker]

The Great War explained

by Philip Stevens

published by Pen & Sword Military, 2012

ISBN 978 1 84884 764 4

cover price - £19.99

Hardback, 141pp plus 74pp of appendices, index. Illustrated

This is an ambitious project: to explain the Great War in a work of some 250 pages. It is greatly to the author's credit that he has produced a work that is logically arranged, readable, sensible and for many people unfamiliar with this period of our history, a valuable and interesting explanation. Overall it is good and well worth the money but it does have its flaws and without wishing to downplay the book they need to be pointed out.

The Great War was, for the British, a war of coalition. Its relationship with France in particular was the basis upon which its entry to the war was based and upon which its every military action was either decided or conducted or both. Many British authors in the past have simply not understood this and it is to Philip Stevens' credit that he ensures that France plays a part in his book: yet it remains a rather British-centric explanation of the Great War. For example more space is devoted to the Battle of Neuve Chapelle on 10 March 1915 than to the the French attack against the Lorette and Vimy ridges on 9 May 1915. There was simply no comparison, for the British affair was a pinprick in terms of size compared to the French action and the latter achieved very much more. There is no mention of the British attack at Aubers on the same date and that was a truly terrible date for British arms. The British "big push" at Loos in September 1915 was also a minor affair compared with French operations but gets its paragraph where French efforts get but a few words.

The Battle of the Somme receives a good deal of coverage, but only a short paragraph tells us that the French took part, when in fact their effort was on a wider front, tactically more sophisticated and generally much more successful than the British. Indeed, their success played an important part in assisting the British 30th Division, which made the most impressive start to the offensive in capturing the vital ground of Montauban on 1 July 1916. This receives no mention, while the author covers the British disasters at Serre, Beaumont Hamel and La Boisselle in some detail. The book's treatment of the attack on Mametz is also a little puzzling, for it covers the appalling time that two battalions of the Devonshires had, while not mentioning that just on their right the battalions of 91st Brigade attacked with great success and captured the village. It must be hard to avoid sound-bite and cliche in a relatively short war history but in the case of Mametz the concentration on the Devons is simply misleading.

Skipping to 1917 and the battles around Arras, Australian readers might be surprised to find no mention of Bullecourt. That takes me back to the Somme, for their terrible battles at Pozieres also receive little mention and the author seems to have misunderstood the nearby memorial to the missing: it does not relate to this fighting but to Fifth Army area in 1918.

The momentous period, for the British army, of early 1918 is covered by description of the German "Michael" offensive that began on 21 March, but the political manoeuvres around the Supreme War Council, the unwanted lengthening of the British-held front (the author describes it as a compromise, which was not really the case) and the disbanding of one infantry battalion in every brigade are barely mentioned. This is a serious gap, for these things are vital to all that subsequently happened.

There are thus some gaps and flaws in "The Great War explained" that make for misinterpretation or puzzlement, and in a few areas such as Mametz they reinforce stereotype. But overall it is a good introduction for the general reader or one new to the subject. It will perhaps surprise people and will open their eyes to things they had not previously considered, and that is no bad thing.