Overview

The First World War remains a controversy: the bitter reality clouded with damaging and popular myths. Many of these misconceptions relate to the competence of the generals. However, the reality of these battles has been gradually concealed by the allegation that the men were 'lions led by donkeys', and the donkeys - the generals - can therefore absorb much of the blame. In this well-researched and highly readable book, Robin Neillands reveals the truth behind this fallacy and the events surrounding the battles, and sets them in a wider context. 1915 was a tough year for the British in France, and the burden of fighting was shifting from the British Army to the Territorial Forces who, at this time, were enthusiastic amateurs at best. The battles were either disasters or inconclusive, but the real reason for despair was that this war, entered into for the liberation of Belgium, had lost its moral argument and was now just another bloody, senseless slaughter. Millions died on the Western Front in 1915 on muddy battlefields. There was no glory attached to their deaths: to all concerned, the war seemed endless and hopeless.

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9780719562440

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Reviews

Praise for Robin Neilland's previous books: -- . 'Rarely has oral history been put to better use' -- Blake Morrison, Independent on Sunday 'Immensely readable ... a blast of fresh air. Anyone who aspires to the command of anything or opining a view of command should be forced to read it. A great blast of level-headedness' -- The Spectator 'Informed and explicit, this is military history at its best' -- Western Daily Press 'Excellent' -- Literary Review 'Highly readable' -- Bookseller 'Well researched and highly readable' -- Blackpool Gazette 'Neillands ... was not into simply chronicling the events of 1915, but rather has returned to a favourite subject -- the role of the generals and the scorn poured on their heads in later year' -- Belfast Newsletter

Praise for Robin Neilland's previous books: - . Rarely has oral history been put to better use - Blake Morrison, Independent on Sunday Immensely readable . . . a blast of fresh air. Anyone who aspires to the command of anything or opining a view of command should be forced to read it. A great blast of level-headedness - The Spectator Informed and explicit, this is military history at its best - Western Daily Press 'Excellent' - Literary Review Highly readable - Bookseller Well researched and highly readable - Blackpool Gazette Neillands was not into simply chronicling the events of 1915, but rather has returned to a favourite subject the role of the generals and the scorn poured on their heads in later year - Belfast Newsletter

Author Information

Robin Neillands was a journalist and writer and a former Royal Marines Commando. He wrote several acclaimed works on the First World War: The Great War Generals on the Western Front, Attrition: The Great War on the Western Front, 1916 and The Old Contemptibles. His books on the Second World War include The Bomber War, The Battle of Normandy, 1944, The Battle for the Rhine, 1944 and The Dieppe Raid, 1942. A former lecturer at the National Army Museum, he conducted battlefield tours, was a member of the British Commission for Military History and taught military history for the Oxford University Department of Continuing Education. He died in 2006.

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