Five Days From Defeat by Walter Reid

Five Days From Defeat by Walter Reid

On 21 March 1918 Germany initiated one of the most ferocious and offensives of the First World War. During the so-called Kaiserschlacht, German troops advanced on allied positions in a series of ferocious attacks which caused massive casualties, separated British and French forces and drove the British back towards the Channel ports. Five days later, as the German advance continued, one of the most dramatic summits of the war took place in Doullens. The outcome was to have extraordinary consequences. For the first time an allied supreme commander – the French General Foch – was appointed to command all the allied armies, while the statesmen realized that unity of purpose rather than national interest was ultimately the key to success. Within a few months a policy of defence became one of offence, and paved the way for British success at Amiens and the series of unbroken British victories that led Germany to plea for armistice. Victory in November 1918 was a matter for celebration; what was excised from history was how close Britain was to ignominious defeat just eight months earlier.

'Shows with forensic precision both how close Britain came to defeat and how Haig subsequently attempted to re-write history so that he came out of the affair in a positive light'

* Scotsman *

'an intriguing study both of the pressures of high command in warfare and of the machinations of powerful men'

* Journal of Military History (US) *

Walter Reid is the author of a number of acclaimed works on military and political history, with a focus on British imperial policy. He was educated at the universities of Oxford and Edinburgh. In tandem with his career as an historian, he and his wife farm in Argyll and grow olives in France.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781780274904
ISBN 10	1780274904
Title	Five Days From Defeat
Author	Walter Reid
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Birlinn General
Year published	2017-11-02
Number of pages	256
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
Note	Unavailable