New book by Jerry Murland - Battle on the Aisne 1914

[paul_web]

I see that Jerry Murland has a new book coming out this month on the BEF's 1914 campaign on the Aisne, called "Battle on the Aisne 1914 : The Birth of the Western Front". It will be a follow-on from his last book, "Retreat and Rearguard 1914", that covered the BEF's actions from Mons back to the Marne. Based on the quality of his first two books I have no doubt this new one will be a thorough look at the battle with plenty of personal accounts from those who were participants interwoven with the main analysis of the battle. Having visited the Chemin des Dames and the Aisne valley a couple of times recently, I am really looking forward this book - it's on my Wish List!

It is good to see this early part of the war is now getting covered by new books like this - are there others who are also interested in the early 1914 period before the trench lines and barbed wired takeover?

[lostinspace]

Mr. Murland is a regular participant on the forum and will probably respond when he sees your post. In my opinion there doesn't seem to be a huge amount of interest in the early part of the war but that might change as the centenary approaches. In case you haven't already located them, a number of early war accounts are available on-line through the Internet Archive, I can give you a list of personal accounts, divisional and regimental histories etc. via the forum's personal message system once you have posted the required number of times (five, I think), also searching through the forum on early war topics will pull up some interesting conversations on threads associated with the first few months of the war.

Best regards,

Dave

[archangel9]

Dave,

I am firmly stuck in 1914 and don't really want to move on yet anyway so I would be delighted to see your lists if possible. Good luck to Jerry with the new book it will sit well on the shelf with -

Aisne 1914: The Dawn of Trench Warfare

Paul Kendall

John

[lostinspace]

John,

No problem, I'll pm you with my e-mail address, I think it will be easier to send the info that way.

Dave

[Cockney]

I see that Jerry Murland has a new book coming out this month on the BEF's 1914 campaign on the Aisne, called "Battle on the Aisne 1914 : The Birth of the Western Front". It will be a follow-on from his last book, "Retreat and Rearguard 1914", that covered the BEF's actions from Mons back to the Marne. Based on the quality of his first two books I have no doubt this new one will be a thorough look at the battle with plenty of personal accounts from those who were participants interwoven with the main analysis of the battle. Having visited the Chemin des Dames and the Aisne valley a couple of times recently, I am really looking forward this book - it's on my Wish List!

It is good to see this early part of the war is now getting covered by new books like this - are there others who are also interested in the early 1914 period before the trench lines and barbed wired takeover?

This is definitely one of the most fascinating periods of the war and shows what a highly trained professional army could do against a huge continental conscript army. The period from Mons to 1st Ypres has also been well covered by books in addition to Jerry Murland's excellent benchmark study although these are of varying quality. Some notable ones are:

Mons Retreat to Victory (Terraine)

Farewell Leicester Square (Caffrey)

1914 (MacDonald)

Ypres 1914 (Beckett)

Gentlemen we will stand and fight (Bird) - Le Cateau

The Mons Star (Ascoli)

Military Operations France and Belgium 1914 V1 and 2 (Official History)

The First Seven Divisions (Hamilton)

Infantry Brigade 1914 (Gleichen)

Mons (Lomas) - nice illustrations

1st Ypres (Lomas) - ditto

Liaison 1914 (Spears)

The Battles of the British Expeditionary Forces 1914-1915: Historiography and Annotated Bibliography (Hartesveldt) - expensive but useful bibliography

British Battalions in France and Belgium 1914 (Westlake)

British Battalions on the Western Front January to June 1915 (Westlake)

British Army of August 1914 (Westlake)

1914 (Sir John French)

Fifteen Rounds a Minute (Craster)

Trial by Fire: Command and the British Expeditionary Force in 1914 (Gardner) - expensive but masterly study of Command and Control in 1914

From Mons to Ypres with French (Coleman)

The Vanished Army (Carew)

Wipers (Carew)

The Retreat from Mons By One Who Shared In It (Corbett-Smith)

August 1914 (Hutton)

Mons 1914 (Horsfall)

Le Cateau (Cave/Sheldon)

Mons 1914 (Gavaghan)

Le Cateau (Gavaghan)

[paul_web]

LostinSpace & Cockney Sparrow

Thank you both for your replies and the list of books - a few I do have but I didn't realise there were so many - looks like some additional items for my Wish List!

It was MacDonald's 1914 that was the start for me, followed more recently by John Terraine's book, which I read prior to a trip to follow the BEF's jounrney from Mons down to the Marne and then back to the Aisne and the Chemin des Dames.

Cheers,

Paul.

[Cockney]

I would love to see Mr Murland do a book on 1st Ypres. This would nicely round out his coverage of 1914 and make a nice trilogy with "R&R 1914" and his soon to be released one on the Aisne battles of 1914.

[MJohnson]

Paul

Just a few more

There's a Devil in the Drum - John Lucy ( Wonderful book )

A Frenchman in Khaki - Paul Maze

August 1914 - Barbara Tuchman

The memoir of Marshal Joffre

The Advance from Mons - Captain Walter Bloem

[Jerrymurland]

I did in fact wiite a book that focused on 1st Ypres - Aristocrats Go To War covered much of 1st Ypres but I take your point that a book that was solely engaged with that monumental battle would certainly be a worthwhile project. I'm currently involved with another book about the rearguard actions of the 1918 March offensive - but who knows ...perhaps after that's finished?

Jerry

[Cockney]

I did in fact wiite a book that focused on 1st Ypres - Aristocrats Go To War covered much of 1st Ypres but I take your point that a book that was solely engaged with that monumental battle would certainly be a worthwhile project. I'm currently involved with another book about the rearguard actions of the 1918 March offensive - but who knows ...perhaps after that's finished?

Jerry

I'll order my advance copy now

[Chris_Baker]

Having heard that Jack Sheldon and Nigel Cave are writing no fewer than three guide books on Ypres in 1914, I am beginning to wonder whether our experience of the centenaries will mirror that of the Official History and to some extent the war itself. Much concentration on the details of the small British force deployed in the early part of the war in 2014; a flurry of excitement in summer 2016; gloom and never-againism strikes in summer 2017; and then war-stuff weariness sets in, meaning the much larger, more complex and sophisticated actions of 1918 receive scant attention in 2018.

[SWorrall]

Chris,

you might have added that the centenary celebrations will focus solely on;

August 4th 1914 - Britain enters the war

July 1st 1916 - 1st day of the Somme

Nov 11th 1918 - Armistice

So, in a nutshell what happened in the Great War was: we got involved ; the First day of the Somme happened ; it finished.

Nothing else happened which is worthy of commemoration at all.

Nothing happened in 1914, except that we declared war. 1915 is a complete blank, as is 1917. And in 1918 the Germans suddenly capitulated, without any apparent reason to do so.

It's on a par with Butchers & Bunglers, The Donkeys, Oh, what a lovely war, Blackadder.

This is history as a parody.

Why not use it as a golden opportunity to throw away all of these old, hackneyed and outworn ideas.

What about all the other centenaries of (at least) major events on the Western Front? Other areas of British/Empire activity? Other fronts where we weren't involved? The home front?

Bring our understanding up to date with a first-class piece of audio-visual history retold?

A remake of 'The Great War' perhaps, using the latest academic thinking as a backdrop?

And, Yes, make in trans-national, to tell the story from other points of view also.

Where is the vision? Where is the breadth of the history?

If we can do justice to the significance of HM the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, and throw squillions of pounds Sterling at the sporting Olympiads, can we not do something a little 'bigger' and better than this for the Great War centenaries?

Simon.

[Cockney]

Having heard that Jack Sheldon and Nigel Cave are writing no fewer than three guide books on Ypres in 1914, I am beginning to wonder whether our experience of the centenaries will mirror that of the Official History and to some extent the war itself. Much concentration on the details of the small British force deployed in the early part of the war in 2014; a flurry of excitement in summer 2016; gloom and never-againism strikes in summer 2017; and then war-stuff weariness sets in, meaning the much larger, more complex and sophisticated actions of 1918 receive scant attention in 2018.

Maybe the answer is to start lobbying Hew strachan - the only sensible appointee to the committee - to broaden the scope of the centenary commemorations.

[Jerrymurland]

The observant amongst us will have immediately noticed that the publisher had originally posted the incorrect book jacket for this volume. To make matters even more complicated Amazon are still hosting the wrong book jacket but giving the correct title: Battle on the Aisne 1914: The Birth of the Western Front. I only hope this has not led to too much confusion and I am assured by Pen and Sword that this error is on the way to being corrected! All I can do is apologise on the publisher's behalf .

Jerry

[paulgranger]

Now I'm intrigued! The book is on its way to me from Amazon, so I should find out shortly what the cover actually looks like. Of course, it's what's in it that counts. You can't judge a book by its cover, and all that.

[squirrel]

The cover looks fine and the content greatly interesting and well written - this may just go straight to the top of the "to read" pile!

[David Filsell]

Also on the Aisne this:

PAUL KENDAL

Aisne 1914: The Dawn of Trench Warfare, £25.00, 416 pp, ills & maps throughout, 11 Appendices (Orders of Battle, memorial lists, cemetery lists), bibliog., index. ISBN 978-0-7524-6304-9

Aisne 1914: The Dawn of Trench Warfare is Paul Kendall’s sixth book on the Great War - the others cover Bullecourt 1917, The Zeebrugge Raid, Kut, Gallipoli and a diary of a Machine Gun Corps Corporal. The last of his books, which I read and reviewed for Stand To! on Zeebrugge, was impressive. The Battle of the Aisne - falling between Mons and Ypres - has largely slipped through gaps of British military history. Books on the battle are relatively few. Kendall’s new history is a highly estimable corrective. It is clearly, and well, written, extensively researched, and beautifully produced - with illustrations and maps in abundance - by the History Press at a fully justifiable £25.00.

After an overview of the armies, commanders and the events leading up to the September 1914 battle, the author covers the crossings of 1 and II Corps and offers a day by day account of the actions on the Aisne heights. By the standards of 1916, 17 and 18 a battle which was relatively small scale and geographically confined.

Kendall’s narrative is supported by chapters which amplify the methods of dealing with the wounded, the first trench raid of the war and cemeteries in the area. No less than 7 appendices show orders of battle and list soldiers buried in cemeteries near the field of battle.

Not least of the book’s merits are the biographical records of large number selected soldiers who died - ranging from officers to private soldiers - at the end of each chapter. The bibliography underlines the scope of the author’s research. He has backed published sources with many elusive details garnered from newspaper and journals; the IWM document and sound archives and the national archives. The analysis of the battle seems to me not merely detailed, but spot on. Certainly the Germans, on the back foot after the Marne, had the pick of the ground; the high ground which they invariably selected for defence. Certainly Haig’s advance on the Aisne lacked the necessary impetus. Yet it was after all the B.E.F’s, first offensive action and the retreat from Mons had severely tested both those bin command and the army as the whole.

It was a new form of war, and one which had much to teach and many to learn. And for once the much derided Hunter-Weston gains some credit. Of the ‘ifs’ which Kendal notes his first states; “If commanders had behaved in the same manner as Brigade (sic) General Hunter had driven his men under their command apparently

beyond endurance to capture high ground on the north banks of the Aisne then the stalemate could have been averted".

This is a fascinating accolade, and one well supported by this book. For, sadly, ‘Hunter Bunter is a soldier almost irretrievably damned in the eyes of many by, very largely, second hand innuendo. Yet he maintained the confidence of Haig, a good picker of subordinates, throughout the war.

Aisne 1914 is splendid - and thought provoking.