The German Army on Vimy Ridge (1914-1917)

[IanA]

It will come as no surprise to anyone who has read Jack's books on the Somme and Passchendaele to hear that the Vimy book is a model of its type. To create such a flowing narrative from so many fragmentary sources is a tremendous achievement and great care has been taken to ensure the translations are both accurate and stylish.

It goes without saying that, for most of us, the material contained in this book will be completely unknown and, therefore, of great interest. It certainly challenged some of my previously held ideas - for example, my views on the superiority of the allied mining techniques over the German efforts, probably the result of reading about the struggle at Messines, have had to be considerably modified. Anyone interested in the tunnelling war will find this aspect of the book compelling reading. There is a tremendous amount of detail about the fighting for Vimy Ridge in April, 1917, and a fascinating summary of the German analysis of the defeat. Another aspect of this book which I found absorbing are the accounts of interrogations of British and Canadian prisoners of war.

Because the British were not directly involved, the earlier history of Vimy and the bitter struggles around the Lorette Spur, Souchez and Neuville St Vaast are, perhaps, not so well-known to British students of the war but the accounts provided here make gripping reading. An appreciation of what went on here will made the next visit to Notre Dame de Lorette or the German cemetery at Neuville St Vaast much more meaningful.

The only aspect of this book which I feel might be improved is the provision of maps. There are 14 sketch maps included which provide a wealth of detail - much of this detail being quite new and, therefore, of great value - but there were times, when reading of the furious fighting for possession of 'The Labyrinth', for example, when I looked for a map only to be disappointed.

To sum up: this book is indispensable to anyone interested in the battles of the Western Front and Vimy, in particular, but it might have been impenetrably academic, stilted, and merited a place on the shelves as a reference book. Instead, it is a joy to read, will repay re-reading, and, to me, is quite revelatory on a number of subjects. I cannot recommend this book too highly.

[Norrette]

Sounds really good. Thanks Ian, I'll put it on my wish list

[George Armstrong Custer]

Excellent review, Ian, with tantalising glimpses of what the book encompasses. I have Jack's Somme volume so can't say I'm surprised by how positive your review of Vimy is (and I've yet to catch up on the Passchendaele which precedes it!).

Apart from the value of the content, I like the thought which has gone into the design of these books - the colourised jacket illustrations are great (if not quite up to the standard of our own Chris CPGW's impeccable colourisations! Thought: maybe Jack's publishers should get in touch with Chris? ). I like too the way the three volumes to date will actually look like a set on the bookshelf, thanks to the use of the head and shoulders of the steel helmeted stormtrooper who first appeared on the Somme volume on the spines of the subsequent ones.

ciao,

GAC

[Jack Sheldon]

Ian

Many thanks for your kind words and this review. I am pleased that you found the book useful and interesting. Your point about trench maps of the 1915 battles is well made. We had several attempts at producing something, but it proved to be impossible to convey the incredible spider's web of positions in any meaningful way. Then when we isolated, say Tsing Tao-Graben it was left hanging in the air if it lacked context. A glance at the attached map will, I hope, illustrate the problem. This is reproduced at its original size from the German Official History. Although it is entitled 'The Chaos of the British Trenches in front of Vimy Ridge', what it actually shows is the confusion of trenches left by the 1915 battles.

Jack

[IanA]

Jack,

You're very welcome: it is an excellent book.

I strongly suspected that the name 'Labyrinth' might give a clue to the reason for a lack of trench maps. Thank you for posting the example above.

Ian