Pyrrhic Victory - Doughty

[Guest RossBeadle]

I can heartily recommend this. There was a gap in the story of the Great War. That was for a good general history of french military strategy from before the war to 1919. This is it.

He is particularly good on the political changes prior to the war, the Battle of the Frontiers and the french assualts of 1915. The last named are often forgotten and were much more substantial affairs than British assaults on Neuve Chapelle and Aubers Ridge. You feel you are almost with Joffre in August 1914 as he tries to find out where the Germans are and each time they are further west than he thought they would be.

Doughty orders his information and arguements beautifully, but is a francophile American. So he is forced, almost through metaphorical gritted teeth to concede that Petain did not try very hard in late 1918, and that the US made a hash of the Argonne Forest, so that it was Haig who led the way. Consequently he gives most of the credit to Foch. But that is being picky, because it is an excellent read

[Dikke Bertha]

Hello

I posted this as well some months ago -

http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/i...showtopic=49033

but there was not a great response to my post either.

Does not seem to have been a widely read book.

[AndyHollinger]

Thought I'd bring it up again. I'm in the middle of it as I recover from my angiogram. So in the midst of "Languarge of God" I start this up and I can't put it down. Well written and very, very informative.

Great Stuff

[paul guthrie]

Agree, very good book, there just isn't enough in English on French effort.

[truthergw]

Thought I'd bring it up again. I'm in the middle of it as I recover from my angiogram. So in the midst of "Languarge of God" I start this up and I can't put it down. Well written and very, very informative.

Great Stuff

Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Agree, very good book, there just isn't enough in English on French effort.

Sounds like one for the list.

[Robert Dunlop]

Yes, it is definitely worth getting.

Robert

[AndyHollinger]

This book fills an empty spot in my undstanding of the war. My only wish would be a big conclusion chapter. It just kind of ends.

[Paul Hederer]

I'll gladly tap this book to the top again. Just finished it and felt it was one of the better books on the war I've read in some time. Well written, informative.

I learned a lot about France and the French army I didn't know before, and a great deal about her strategy before and during the war.

Well worth a read.

Paul

[Halder]

Well worth investing in. Best overview of France in WW1 in the English language. Equally good is his book on Sedan 1940, The Breaking Point. It's going for £320 (!) on Amazon presently. For that price, I'm almost tempted to sell my copy. Almost.

[Guest Squeeth]

I must say I agree Halder, a valuable corrective to anglocentric historiography and a welcome relief after the disappointment of Clayton's effort. Despite being written by an English speaker it shows some respect to the concept of the sentence.

[John(txic)]

I found it to be most unimpressive and tedious, and reading it you would hardly realise that there was a BEF at all.

I posted it as my offering in the "Most boring/disliked book" thread - on both counts.

[Guest Squeeth]

I found it to be most unimpressive and tedious, and reading it you would hardly realise that there was a BEF at all.

I posted it as my offering in the "Most boring/disliked book" thread - on both counts.

Fair's fair, until mid-1916 there wasn't.