The Great War on the Western Front : A Short History

The war on Western Front from 1914 to 1918 remains one of the notoriously great tragedies of the twentieth century. Most people hold it in their minds as a milestone in modern history, yet many of them know less about this devastating clash of nations than they would like - and they would be interested to discover more. Paddy Griffith's short history of the conflict has been written with them in mind. It provides an accessible primer to an enormous and fascinating subject. His account is aimed at an English-speaking readership, and he concentrates on the part played by British Expeditionary Force and the Americans in the conflict. The French and German perspectives are also explained and the wider political and strategic evolution of the war as a whole is laid out as essential background. [Elib] On 9 April 1940, the German Armed Forces seized Norway and Denmark in an operation remarkable for its precision and boldness. The Chamberlain War Cabinet was caught on the hop and responded with ineptitude.While this book examines the making of grand strategy it is first and foremost the story of this ill-fated campaign. It describes the attempts of naval and military commanders to respond to daily shifts in government policy and to grasp the methods of a new kind of enemy one which seemed willing to take extraordinary risks and which had regained a level of tactical mobility not seen since Napoleonic times.Norway has been eclipsed by the larger disasters which followed shortly after notably the evacuation from Dunkirk and the fall of France. Although there is a substantial body of printed material touching on the subject, few accounts provide a clear view of the campaign as a whole and fewer still are easy to read. While the book concentrates on the higher levels of decision-making (War Cabinets, Chiefs of Staff, and Theater Commanders), it gives equal emphasis to land, sea and air operations and the men who under took them and provides, as far as possible, an even balance between British and German perspectives. [Elib] On 9 April 1940, the German Armed Forces seized Norway and Denmark in an operation remarkable for its precision and boldness. The Chamberlain War Cabinet was caught on the hop and responded with ineptitude.While this book examines the making of grand strategy it is first and foremost the story of this ill-fated campaign. It describes the attempts of naval and military commanders to respond to daily shifts in government policy and to grasp the methods of a new kind of enemy one which seemed willing to take extraordinary risks and which had regained a level of tactical mobility not seen since Napoleonic times. Norway has been eclipsed by the larger disasters which followed shortly after notably the evacuation from Dunkirk and the fall of France. Although there is a substantial body of printed material touching on the subject, few accounts provide a clear view of the campaign as a whole and fewer still are easy to read. While the book concentrates on the higher levels of decision-making (War Cabinets, Chiefs of Staff, and Theater Commanders), it gives equal emphasis to land, sea and air operations and the men who under took them and provides, as far as possible, an even balance between British and German perspectives. "The war on the Western Front from 1914 to 1918 remains one of the notoriously great tragedies of the twentieth century. Most people hold it in their minds is a milestone in modern history, yet many of them know less about this devastating clash of nations than they would like - and they would be interested to discover more. Paddy Griffith's short history of the conflict has been written with them in mind - it provides an accessible primer to an enormous and fascinating subject." "His account is aimed at an English-speaking readership, and he concentrates on the part played by the British Expeditionary Force (including the Dominions) and the Americans in the conflict. The French and German perspectives are also explained - but in less detail - and the wider political and strategic evolution of the war as a whole is laid out as essential background. At the centre of the story are the operations and tactics of the Western Front itself - that long, narrow and deadly 'zone des armees' in which military considerations usually weighed much more heavily than either politics or poetry."--Jacket "This new study of the Norway Campaign tells the story of the first great test for British leaders and fighting men during the Second World War. It examines the making of grand strategy in a cabinet of reluctant warriors, and contrasts their painfully deliberate methods with the ruthless efficiency of the German high command. It shows an irrepressible Churchill trying to grasp the levers of British strategy and, at the same time, to micro-manage the succession of military crises that followed the German initiative. His judgment and his methods both came under the microscope. In parallel, it enters the minds of naval and military commanders as they grappled with daily shifts in government policy and attempted to grasp the methods of a new kind of enemy -- one which seemed willing to take extraordinary risks and which had regained a level of tactical mobility not seen since Napoleonic times. Although Churchill and the Norway Campaign draws primarily on British sources, German and Norwegian perspectives are covered in all necessary detail"--Jacket