Product Description

The trench warfare of 1915-1917 was an almost static confrontation between two armies who could draw on recent examples of strategy that might have avoided stand-off. This book seeks to find out why the stalemate came about.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #884993 in Books
• Published on: 1999-03-18
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 223 pages

About the Author
J.H. Johnson is a historian with a particular interest in the strategy and tactics of the First World War. He served with the Royal Artillery and the Royal Engineers in the 1939-45 war, the last two years on the staff of HQ Allied Land Forces South East Asia, where he was involved in planning for the recapture of Burma, Malaya and Singapore.

Customer Reviews

An excellent top down view of British Trench warfare
   The author has a distinct view of WW1: stalemate. Via descriptions of the famous battles he attempts to portray the reasons behind the strategy, tactics, and apparent blunders. For example the volunteer army was considered too inexperienced to try any formation other than walking across 'no mans' land in a single row at the Somme. Everybody, including the generals, seemed to be unprepared for this type of warefare. Although the book is not about General Haig much of his decision making was, inevitably, commented upon or mentioned. Hitherto my opinion of him had always been from the "Lions led by Donkey's " camp, but some of his main strategic decisions appeared to be correct, eg place of attack. But as a tactical innovator? No! It took Haig until the latter half of 1918 to abandon the idea of the great strategic breakthrough by attacking the enemy at their strongest point. The German 'stormtroopers' in 1918 did the opposite and almost won the war. Tactics changed considerably after the final failure at Cambrai and a chapter detailing these could have been useful even if outside the scope of this book. The book rekindled my interest in WW1 and I read it twice.