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wodin -> RE: World War I Books (11/25/2012 3:28:00 PM)
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VPaulus..it's all from the German side..heavily researched through regimental histories etc in the German archives (Jack Sheldon was a Military Attachee to the German Army for many years)..it's a running narration of first hand accounts with maps intersped by jack Sheldon giving a detailed run down of the battle at the exact same time as the accounts..amazing work..
The Other Side of the wire is another great book. If you want to know what it was like and about the men involved in the battle (all frontline ranks) from the German side you must read these. Actually everyone should own this series.
I will say though you can't go wrong with Sheldons work...I make sure I buy the next one as soon as it comes out..
his latest below..check the reader reviews..they sum it all up.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/German-Army-Western-Front-1915/dp/1848844662/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1353857455&sr=1-1
In this book Mr Sheldon makes a very interesting proposition. That due to the victories on the eastern front at the time more divisions were sent that way...yet if those divisions had been given to Falkenhayn (he had asked for them) instead he had a massive chance to crush the at the time very weak BEF and may have even brought the war to an end...
A review quote below..
"After providing us with a series of books dealing with the experiences of German soldiers on different sectors of the front, Jack Sheldon has presented a triumphant synthesis here.
The year 1915 was portentous ; as Sheldon emphasises, it did not determine the outcome of the war, but it certainly defined the way it was fought.
The Germans, too, had their " Westerners" and their " Easterners", and it's especially interesting to read, in the introduction, how Falkenhayn advocated a determined ofensive in the West, with a fragile and unprepared BEF being the preferred victim. Sheldon does not generally indulge in " might have beens", but in this case he makes a convincing suggestion that, by turning away from Falkenhayn's vision, Germany missed a momentous chance.
If you seek disciplined narrative, backed up by anecdotes, with vignettes ranging from the horrific to the humorous, then you will enjoy this. You will above all be informed. Every chapter is backed up by a superb array of notes, which enhance the authority of the writing. There is great poignance without a hint of sensationalism.
We are exremely fortunate to have the efforts of Jack Sheldon available to us in the approach to the centennial year of that monstous war. We need that scholarly, authoratitive rendition of the " view from the other side of the hill."
The Winter Battle in Champagne, Neuve Chapelle, Arras, Aubers, Festubert, the Gas Attack at Ypres, the dreadful warfare in the Argonne, the mighty autumn offensives by the French in Artois and Champagne, supported by the British at Loos...these are all dealt with in that special Sheldonian style which is truly a landmark in the historiography of the Great War.
Phil Andrade, Life Member, Western Front Association"
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