Product Description

As the driving force behind the Allied effort in World War I, France willingly shouldered the heaviest burden. In this masterful book, Robert Doughty explains how and why France assumed this role and offers new insights into French strategy and operational methods. An unparalleled work in French or English literature on the war, "Pyrrhic Victory" is destined to become the standard account of the French army in the Great War.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #324441 in Books
• Published on: 2008-03-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 592 pages

Review
"Every scholar of the Great War, and anyone interested in a basic grounding in the subject, should read the book under review here. Robert Doughty has delivered a tour de force, a major contribution to military history and the history of the Great War... The French military effort in the Great War has always deserved a history written in three dimensions, neither as hagiography nor as caricature. Now we have it." - Leonard V. Smith, Journal of Military History"

About the Author
Brigadier General (Ret.) Robert A. Doughty served as Professor and Head of the Department of History at the United States Military Academy from 1985 to 2005.

Customer Reviews

Good overview
This is a book that deliverers what it sets out to do, that is a comprehensive history and review of French strategy during the First World War. It's unlikely you'll find a better one written in English. However I'm not so convinced that it covers the operational aspect as well. I'm still looking for a book that covers the French battles of 1915 in the same detail that numerous books cover the British battles on the Western Front of the same period or Verdun. This work is at its strongest when covering the actions and thinking of the three principle commanders of the French armies, Joffre, Petain and Foch and gives a real insight into their strengths and weaknesses. Very worthwhile read but really one aimed at WW1 scholars rather than the casual reader.

Hamlet With The Prince
National histories of a World War always carry the risk of not providing the necessary overview and of engaging in special pleading. Yet the lack of a detailed history in english of the French army in the Great War has both weakened the overview and the narrower national studies, for the French truly were the Prince in Hamlet; they underpinned and held together the Western Front while the British and Americans could learn their trade. Robert Doughty's book does an admirable job of providing an overview of policy and strategy (he is excellent on the latter)of the nation and its army, and of providing enough operational detail to please those interested in the execution of those policies and strategies.

Thoroughly recommended.