Hundred Days: The End of the Great War

by Nick Lloyd

Nick Lloyd's Hundred Days: The End of the Great War
In this compelling and ground-breaking new study, Nick Lloyd examines the last days of the war and asks the question: How did it end? Beginning at the heralded turning-point on the Marne in July 1918, Hundred Days traces the epic story of the next four months, which included some of the bloodiest battles of the war. Using unpublished archive material from five countries, this new account reveals how the Allies - British, French, American and Commonwealth - managed to beat the German Army, by now crippled by indiscipline and ravaged by influenza, and force her leaders to seek peace.

Genres: History, World War I, Military History, Nonfiction, War, Military Fiction, 20th Century

384 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2013

About the author

One of Britain’s new generation of military historians, Nick Lloyd is a Professor of Modern Warfare at King’s College London and the author of four books on World War I, including The Western Front, Hundred Days, and Passchendaele. He lives in Cheltenham, England.

Reviews

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

How the War in the West Ended.

There have been numerous studies of how the Great War started in the aftermath of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in on 28/06/1914. Historians have debated over how the world tore itself apart and dove headfirst into hell. We also know about 1919, the Treaty of Versailles, but little attention has been given to the 100 days, the final days of fighting on the Western Front, the most important sector of the war, where it was always known it would be won and lost. Nick Lloyd here, sets to bring this part of the conflict into history and show how the horror, death and devastation was as prevalent as ever in the war’s final hour.

It has often been said that the beginning of the conflict looked like the wars of the last century and the end looked like warfare we recognise today. I feel this is quite accurate. In the Hundred Days which lasted from 08/08/1918 until Armistice Day on 11/11/1918 was not the recognisable trench warfare of WWI. There were tanks, aircraft, towns and bridges taken and lost and even cavalry charges. This was not a static period as the Imperial German Army was pushed back. The Germans lost possibly around one million men in 1918, with their costly spring offensive and the allies up to 400,000 killed in action in the Hundred Days. This was still an expensive fight.

One of the big questions which Lloyd looks at, is ‘was the German Army defeated?’ I think that we can safely dismiss the ‘stab in the back’ myth and state that the army was decimated. It should not have gone on for so long and that OHL should have recognised this sooner and accepted the allied terms for surrender. Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria, one of the more competent German generals recognised this in the spring of 1918. Other such as Eric Ludendorff wanted to carry on. What is certain is that this was the only period of the war where Germany had lost more men than the allies and as such could not continue. There was no chance of victory and the Hindenburg Line was throughly smashed. As a result of the continued stubbornness to keep fighting, the thing they all feared happened: Revolution and a collapse of the regime. Old Germany fell, first with a sailors a Kiel and then across the country.

Lloyd shows through this book that the tragedy and sorrow lingered on. Wilfred Owen, one of most talented poets was killed trying to reassure his men in the last days. We also learn the story of a private killed at pointlessly with two minutes to go before the Armistice; although pockets of fighting continued after this. Overall this is a great book, bringing this period back into the forethought. I really enjoyed this.

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Hundred Days is an incredible account of the final throes of WWI. Usually I find lots of books on Verdun, the Somme, Ypres and the initial Widerness campaigns but I have neglected the end of the war. I found this book an excellent detailed discussion of how the French, British, and US armies successfully broke the deadlock of trench warfare and restored the campaigns of maneuver. The German Army could not hold against the massed firepower thrown against their it or the addition of 100,000 US soldiers monthly. Each German line was breached with enormous losses to both sides. The Germans were at the end of the line. What is also fascinating is the discussion of the Imperial high command and their lack of comprehension that they had lost the war, a fact that every infantryman knew. Even more interesting is the coverage of the Kaiser's last days in power. The armistice required his abdication although the old emperor was in the clouds till the last believing he would remain in power. For the allies the guns fell silent on armistice day. For the Germans they had to march home to fight the anarchists and bolsheviks and their revolution. In amongst those soldiers was a young corporal recovering from mustard gas who believed the German army was bertrayed. His name was Adolf Hitler, and with him went the seeds of WWII.

[Dropbear123 · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5 rounding up for Goodreads. Very good and if you are interested in WWI it is really worth reading. 280 main pages and 50 pages of notes and sources. Begins in July 1918 with the end of the final major German offensive on the Marne and the prelude to the Allied offensive which began on 8 August at Amiens. The book is great at describing the technological and tactical changes that had been made by 1918. The thoughts, feelings and views of the leadership on both sides is covered well and the experiences of the ordinary soldiers were done with a lot of detail. The descriptions of the particular attacks are described in a way that shows what is going on at the broader level without getting bogged down with every unit or every village. There is a decent amount on the American perspective as well, with the battles of St Mihiel and the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. The author paints a vivid picture of the final period of the war and the German army in collapse. There isn't that much on the political decisions at the end of the war or the outbreak of revolution in Germany but there is enough to understand what is happening. The feelings of the soldiers at the end of the war are also only touched on briefly.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I borrowed this from the library on the strength of the author's other work, Passchendaele. This also did not disappoint. Lloyd does a great job of covering both sides, and weaving perspectives from all ranks, generals down to company privates.

Like Passchendaele, this helps explain how the simplistic explanation of WW1 as "trench warfare that never evolved" is just that. He explains how tactics changed, why the Allies were able to start pushing breakthroughs, and I think conclusively puts to bed Ludendorff's bull**** about how the German Army wasn't defeated in the field but was stabbed in the back by the home front. I mean, everyone knew it was bunk at the time, and that it was just a comforting lie. But you can never re-expose the truth too many times.

[Bernie Charbonneau · Rating 4 out of 5]

“In the late summer of 1918, after four long years of senseless, stagnant fighting, the Western Front erupted. The bitter four-month struggle that ensued-known as the Hundred Days Campaign-saw some of the bloodiest and most ferocious combat of the Great War, as the Allies grimly worked to break the stalemate in the west and end the conflict that had decimated Europe.”
As with some of the books that I have recently read about The Great War, by the time we get to the final chapters and the last of the conflict we sometimes miss out on the details leading to Armistice Day. As the opening quote projects, with the U.S. heavily involved fresh for action, the last push was often brutal.
Mr. Lloyd has done a very commendable job of concentrating on the movements of the belligerents involved. With a writing style that keeps the reader engaged with the views of both the allied and axis on how and why the victories and failures led to the end. Of course I would recommend numerous other books to get an overall concept of the War before attacking this novel but keep this close as a side by side to learn the struggles of the platoons, companies and brigades involved.
This was my first book by this author and I would not hesitate to recommend this volume to anyone and will be looking for other books.

[Nick Lloyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a well-written and broad history of the end of WWI on the Western Front. What surprised me most in reading this book was the fact that, after enormous battles like Verdun and the Somme, and four years of what was at the time the bloodiest conflict in human history, the war did not end with some climactic battle a la Waterloo. Instead, the German Army was simply worn down by the starvation and disease inflicted by the blockade, Bolshevik uprisings back home and mutiny within the ranks, and the collapse of morale that came with the realization that America had entered the war fresh, with a seemingly endless supply of men and materiel to draw from. This lack of a "marching through Berlin" moment affected the post-war German psyche, and created the conditions for the rise of Hitler and the Second World War. To a simple Corporal on the front lines in 1918, it looked like the same army that had been fighting since 1914; occupying French territory and, despite losses, generally still holding off every Allied attack. Because the generals realized Germany was beaten but the populace did not, narratives of a "stab in the back" by leaders, intellectuals, and Jews began to take hold. It should be noted that, in the Second World War, the Allied Powers made sure the people of Germany were fully aware of what had taken place.

[Jimmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unlike many World War I books that I've read, this book gives equal coverage to both sides, explaining the strategy and tactics used in the campaign. However, there were several things which kept the rating down. All of the maps were grouped together at the front of the book instead of being near the sections that describe the action on the map. Also, the book ignored several smaller Allied contingents; for example, the Belgian army is barely mentioned at all.

Probably the biggest problem is the part of the conclusion where the author argues that Germany should have been broken up at the end of the war; he also seems to think that the harsh terms of the Treaty of Versailles had nothing to do with the rise of Hitler in the 1930s. Personally, I don't see how breaking up Germany could have prevented Hitler (assuming it didn't speed up his rise to power). In addition, this breakup might have allowed the Soviet Union to take over Eastern Europe a few decades earlier than it happened historically.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Concise account of the Allied campaign that brought Germany to defeat in World War I. Gives an understanding of just how much the Allies learned about 20th century warfare during 1914-1918, leading to tactical innovations that finally broke the stalemate on the Western Front. Only drawback is a paucity of maps.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always feel that WWI gets the shaft compared to WWII, even though they are equally important for explaining the world in which we presently reside. Even so, after thoroughly exploring the main narratives in college I mostly focus on the 'forgotten' fronts these days. Italy vs Austria-Hungary, the Balkans, the Middle East, East Africa, you name it.

But one thing that always bothered me was that while the Western Front is covered to extremity, particularly the very start of the war and the slaughterhouse battles of the Somme and Verdun (a battlefield which I have personally visited and is quite moving in its terrible and still-scarred grandeur), is how the last and arguably most important stages of the war, the combined Allied offensives after the failure of the German gamble in Spring of 1918, gets overlooked. Even Keegan's comprehensive war history blows through the 100 Days Offensive as if it was nothing but an epilogue, and not the culmination, of the war in Europe.

The Allies had perfected the hard lessons they had learned after years of failure. Much of the German command was delusional about the extent of the danger they were in and had to be convinced by a few more kicks open of their defensive lines. The last minute nature of the armistice led to confusion and deaths right up to and even past the time of the end of the war. Foch handled three humongous armies and their varying commanders with great skill in what the western front always needed: a completely coordinated multi-stage operation.

Lack of understanding this period had great dangers too. Many Germans invented a pernicious mythology that exonerated the collapse of the army with dire future implications. Up to today, American historians often claim full credit for turning the tide, while British ones pretend America had nothing to do with the end game. Both are wrong as US troops were often (though only initially) woefully unprepared for the realities of combat in 1918, while also their numbers, potential, and eventual victories did indeed enable the 100 Days Offensive to go forward and win victory.

This was a book that had to be written.

[Liam · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Slaughter cattle for Wilhelm & Sons." (Graffiti on a German troop train [September 1918], 97)

[Peter Goodman · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Hundred Days: The campaign that ended World War I,” by Nick Lloyd (Basic Books, 2014). Remarkable. The Hundred Days, from the middle of July, 1918 through the beginning of November, are the days when the British, French and eventually the Americans, having held off Ludendorff’s final spring huge “peace offensive,” finally turned the tide, began advancing, and broke the German army. Lloyd uses every resource---archives, letters, diaries, books, official accounts, etc.---to describe how the Entente finally named a single generalissimo to coordinate all the armies (Foch), who planned the series of attacks that one after the other destroyed the Germans’ ability to resist. His account goes from the highest strategic councils to the utter brutality and squalor of the combat. I had no idea how much gas they used---the Germans more than the Allies. I will never think of the French as surrender monkeys: they bore the absolute brunt of the fighting, and the war was almost entirely on their territory. Lloyd explains that the Allies finally learned how to fight the Germans: not with huge, days-long artillery bombardments that could be sheltered from and which told the Germans exactly where the attack would come---but from secret, carefully hidden buildups just behind the lines, complete with deception and camouflage, followed by sudden, overwhelming, terrible artillery bombardments that the troops finally knew how to follow behind. They used tanks to excellent effect; they controlled the air. The Germans resisted—the high command struggled and refused to acknowledge their losses and their deteriorating situation until the army itself began to crumble and rebel and desert and refuse to fight. Lloyd says the reason the American divisions were so huge because they didn’t have enough experience staff officers. There was the culture clash---the Brits were almost offended by the Americans’ informality and offhandedness. It took a while for the Americans to learn how to fight. At first they tried the old fashioned ways that didn’t work---mass attacks across the front, which were slaughtered. But they learned fast, did a magnificent job a St. Mihiel. Casualties on all sides were enormous, some of the highest of the war. And there is no doubt that the Germans were beaten. They had run out of men, out of food, out of equipment. The Allies were driving them. Hitler was wrong. The Germans lost. The book has excellent maps, and a good bunch of photos.

http://www.nicklloyd.co.uk

[Jill Meyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Did anyone really care whether Alsace-Lorraine was French or German?" Using those words, British history professor Nick Lloyd summed up German thoughts at the end of the "Great War" as the German government considered surrendering to the Allied forces in Fall, 1918, in his new book, "Hundred Days".

August 1914 - young men from Britain to Austro-Hungary marched gaily off to war. They'd be home by Christmas, these fearless young men told themselves - and each other. But as the years went by with battles gaining literally inches and men living - and dying - in hideous trenches in France and Belgium, by summer of 1918, the war was finally creaking to an end. The American entry into the war in 1917 on the Allied side had given the French, British, and Dominion troops an added boost to those armies who had been fighting for three years, often to a standoff with the Germans on the Western Front, in a war of attrition.

Nick LLoyd, a senior lecturer of Defense Studies, at Kings College, London, lost a great-uncle at the French village of Gouzeaucourt, just six weeks or so before the Armistice. Lloyd has written an amazingly readable book about those last hundred days of WW1. He looks at the war from British, German, French, and American sides and examines both the military battles at the Front and the political battles behind the scenes. He includes maps at the front of the book which detail the battles fought and military lines that had to be crossed by the advancing Allies and defended by the Germans.

One of the most interesting parts of the book deals with the political situation in Germany as the war caused the collapse of the Kaiser's government. Lloyd looks at the cries of "betrayal by the Communists/Bolshevics/Jews/Defeatists" that lasted well into the 1920's and '30's. Nick LLoyd has done a wonderful job looking at a smallish slice of time in a much larger conflict. Great book for WW1 history readers.

[Shrike58 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've probably read too much about the Great War to be part of the target audience for this book, but Lloyd hooked me with his introduction of how this campaign affected his family. So, if you're looking for a popular account of how the Entente pummeled the Second Reich into submission you could do a good deal worse. If nothing else Lloyd does a fine job of showing how the cut and thrust of the operational side of the war impacted policy making; particularly from the German perspective. As for what I'd dispute about the book, you can count Lloyd among those who believe that it would have been better in the long run if the Entente had actually broken into Germany and confirm the battlefield defeat they had inflicted, even if the war had gone on into 1919. This was not really a practical prospect, for reasons Lloyd himself outlines.

Originally written: January 29, 2015.

[Derek Weese · Rating 4 out of 5]

While there have been a veritable flood of books published on the origins of the First World War and the initial battles in Flanders and the Marne, as well as long winded looks into the veracity, or not, of the Schleiffen Plan, few books have ever been written on the final Allied offensive that broke the back of the German Army and ended the war. And none that didn't focus on the entirety of the campaign as a whole, not just one side or even one particular ally of one side. This book, a well written and excellent one, fills that gap.
'Hundred Days' tells the oft neglected story of how the Allies won, if not decisively, the First World War, defeated the German Army, and drove it nearly to annihilation in a series of grinding, attrition based offensives that also saw some examples of maneuver warfare towards the end.
Following their defeat of the Russian Empire in 1917 (and yes, it must be said that the answer to the rhetorically asked question of whether one can win a land war in Asia is yes, one can; the Germans did in the First World War by trouncing, decisively and completely, the Russian Empire)the Germans, after stopping briefly by Italy to smack them upside the head (nearly taking them out of the war as well in the Caporetto Battles), shipped large formations of veteran and well equipped men to the Western Front. What made this so harmful to the Allied cause was a multifaceted problem.
First off the Allies were tired, exhausted, and drained of morale. The grinding battles of Paschendalle and the disastrous Nivelle Offensive (which helped to cause a mutiny in the French Army) had damaged the Allies more than they had damaged the Germans, and they were not prepared to face a new, reinvigorated German offensive. Secondly the Germans were bringing to the match new tactics, tried and tested first against the Russians and then perfected against the Italians (tactics that form the basis for infantry assault tactics to this day, by the way) and a sense of victory. They believed that they could win the war, and this mightily revitalized the German Army on the Western Front. After all, their comrades being shipped westwards had not only trounced the Italians and knocked the Russians out of the war but they had also conquered, in a matter of days, Romania in the first ever mechanized offensive in history. (Though minus armor, the Germans never developed much in the way of tanks during WWI)All of this combined to make the German Army that spring a very confident, and eager to display their new found skills against their tired, exhausted foes. And finally, the Allies were desperately waiting for the arrival of the American Army. The French especially were desperate for relief, relief they hoped to find in the form of fresh American troops. This added a sense of urgency to both sides, the Allies hoping the Americans would arrive in time, the Germans hoping that their coming offensive would knock one or the other of France or the British out of the war before the Yanks could show up.
The ensuing German offensives, called various names but most often known to history as the Kaiser offensives, were, initially, tremendous successes. The Germans broke the Western Front wide open and restored maneuver, their strong suit, to the war. Albeit, only for a brief time. As bad as their blows were hurting the Allies, they were taking considerable losses themselves, and their High Commands insistence of adding strategic objectives as the offensive rolled on only spread out and diffused the German efforts, in effect softening their blows.
Finally, at the Second Battle of the Marne, the Allies, primarily the French, with a large dose of American help, stopped the German offensives.
As the Americans led the way in launching a joint Allied offensive that pushed the Germans from the environs of Paris, the supreme Allied commander, Ferdinand Foch, could feel that victory was in the air.
Nick Lloyd tells the story of how the Allies, battered and bruised from the series of massive German blows they had absorbed over the Spring, recovered, quickly, and began landing knockout blows of their own. The author covers all sides, giving fair treatment to the French, Germans and even the Americans, something that should be remarked upon as he is British and most British historians tend to celebrate their own triumphs at the end while overlooking the French and American contributions and overlooking the plight of the retreating and defending Germans.
Starting at Amiens, the 'Black Day of the German Army', the Allies kept up a constant, hammering series of offensives that, slowly but surely, drove the Germans back to their frontiers. The British led the way with their tanks and the awesome hitting power of their Canadian and Australian Army Corps, easily the baddest troops on the battlefield in 1918. The French, while tired and almost used up, contributed mightily, regaining honor lost during the mutinies the previous year. Only the Americans had a mixed report.
The American Army, green, under-trained, under-equipped, and indifferently led does not make for glorious reading during the First World War. While American troops did well when under Allied command and mixed in with French or British armies, as a separate unit the deficiencies of the American Army were born out in bloody, tragic detail. In the hellish nightmare of the Meuse-Argonne Forest, nearly 100,000 American soldiers would be killed in action in a little under two months, for little gains of lasting significance. For all their faults, however, Lloyd shows the reader that the Americans learned from their incredibly costly mistakes, rapidly at that, and despite their often inept tactics, they showed remarkable bravery and incredible courage in the face of certain death as they often charged in, almost fanatically, towards positions that the British and French would avoid.
By early November, however, the game was up for Germany. Her Army was all but finished, she was short on everything from ammunition to boots and especially food and medicine. Morale at home was almost nonexistent and revolution was in the air. Germany signed the Armistice, and the First World War ended.
Nick Lloyd shows that it was not politics, but Allied arms that convinced the Germans to give up the fight. Also he does a very convincing job of overturning the German myth, which many there still believe, that it was leftist politicians who stabbed the Army in the back. The Army was done for, on its last legs and even its High Command understood this. The Armistice was a blessing in disguise for the German Army as it gave them the opportunity to turn home and root out the Communists.
However the Allies did not win decisively. The German Army, though in a bad way, was still functional and the Allies did not occupy Germany. While it seems that such a step would be overly harsh in today's overly sensitive political climate, the truth is that minus that occupation is exactly what gave the conditions time to brew that allowed the rise of the National Socialists.
All in all an excellent book, hopefully it will spawn more research into this most pivotal of moments in 20th century history.

[Nick Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

On 28th September 1918 the British, with the support of Canadian, Belgium and American formations attacked the German Army at Ypres. The Fourth Battle of Ypres saw the allies finally break out of the salient which had seen much of the bloodiest fighting of the previous four years. At the German high command, in the Belgium town of Spa, First Quartermaster General Erich von Ludendorff shuffled into the office of his commander and mentor Paul Von Hindenburg to tell him the war was over. Germany must ask for an armistice.

Nick Lloyd’s 2013, Hundred Days provides a compact but thoroughly engaging account of how the First World War went from being a battle away from a German victory to the collapse of the Germany Army, nation and Empire almost before the leaves had a chance to fall.

In March of 1918, with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, Germany won the war in the East. Bolshevik Russia capitulated and ceded much of Eastern Europe, including Ukraine. Germany transferred around 50 divisions to the Western Front and launched a spectacular Spring Offensive. By July German stormtroopers had pushed the allies back to the Marne. As in 1914, Paris was within their grasp. That within barely one hundred days they would lose the war seems incredible.

This is a story told not only through the generals: Foch: the strategic mastermind, Pershing: always pushing for greater autonomy for Americans and Haig: ever, and for once correctly, optimistic. But also through the soldiery. There are the famous, Wilfred Owen gets prominent billing, but also others those who have passed largely unnoticed into history, Such as Frank Holden, and American gas officer, R. C. Foot, a British artillery man, or a German infantryman known only as Josef who witnessed a dogfight whilst retiring from the front. The book is inspired, we are told, by the author's Great-Uncle, Private Tom Cotterill, who fell at Gouzeaucourt on 27th September. All of this enriches the narrative and adds balance.

There is a misconception that the First World War fizzled out. Both sides bled themselves white but the Germans bled out first. Not so. Lloyd convincingly demonstrates that Germany was roundly beaten on the battlefield. By October 1918 the German air force was unable to contest the skies, the Hindenburg line was broken and their armies were in full flight. In some barrages the allies were firing over seven tons of high explosive a minute on German lines. Had the war continued into 1919 the continual arrival of American forces would have allowed them to have more than 400,000 more soldiers in theatre than the Germans. The allies were in a position to deliver a crushing blow, and were in the midst of doing so when the Germans accepted the inevitable and sued for peace.

Here Lloyd tentatively advances an unpopular thesis. The allies were wrong to accept the armistice. The German Army was beaten in the field, in some sectors commanders were reporting they would struggle to provide organised resistance beyond the first day of a renewed allied offensive. There were no major defensive lines between the allies and the Fatherland. With one final push Germany could have been forced into an ignominious surrender, occupation, and even dismemberment. Had the solution of 1945 been imposed in 1918 the history of the 20th Century could have been very different.

It is important not surcomb to historical hindsight. The full horror of Nazism was unprecedented and almost certainly unpredictable in November 1918. On the battlefield, the The troops fighting the war were exhausted, they had advanced to the very limit of practical resupply. The French army was decimated, the BEF had no meaningful reserve and increasing difficulty generating forces. If there was to be a final push it would have had to wait until 1919.

As Lloyd notes twice, Foch did not believe he had the right to spill a single drop of blood if the allies immediate war aims were satisfied. It is not clear that there was support among the troops or indeed on the home front for continued hostilities and, although we can never walk the road not taken, it is unlikely that history would fondly remember the generals who turned down an offer of peace so that another million men might die.

Lloyd advances this thesis only in his epilogue. His narrative ends when the guns fall silent. This is not an account of the aftermath of the war (there is a rich field of historical writing about the post-war period, my favourite is The Deluge by Adam Tooze), rather it is a gripping account of the battles which brought about German surrender.

It reminds us of a simple fact. Germany lost the First World War because it was beaten on the battlefield. Whilst many German soldiers had given up the fight many bravely stood their ground and would have fought on to the last, all hope of a German victory was gone. The Germans knew this and sued for peace.

After the war this group of diehards were often the loudest exponents of the ‘stab in the back’ narrative: German forces were undefeated in the field and had been betrayed on the home front, principally by Jews and communists. If Germany was to rise again these tractors must be purged. One such adherent was a 29 year old NCO serving with the 16th Reserve Infantry Regiment of the 6th Bavarian Reserve Division. Temporarily blinded in a gas attack near Comines, the armistice found him recuperating in Pomerania and nursing a deep and abiding hatred for those who had betrayed the fatherland. Adolf Hitler would dedicate the rest of his life to avenging the defeat of 1918. Perhaps accepting an armistice in November 1918, and allowing the continued existence of a unified Germany was the first unknowing step of a road of appeasement.

[Basileus · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is hands down, one of my favourite books I've read this year. Pure history which reads like a novel. Maps are shown for every battlefield which is discussed troughout the book, from Amiens to the crossing of Sombre canal. The book is also filled with random journal entries from different soldiers (from both sides) who participated in this great, final offensive on the Western front. German pilots, gunners, officers, as well as British, French and US soldiers who moved the frontline almost a hundred miles in a hundred days. The book tackles the popular "Stab in the back" myth, often spoken of when talking about the collapse of the German armies on the Western front. Author offerns evidence that Germany was forced to sue for peace because of the threats at home front, lack of manpower and reserves, collapse of her allies and the simple unsustainability of the further fighting. The allied decision to cease the struggle is also criticised, with the interesting propositions of invading Germany, deconstructing the Empire by reviving numerous pre-unification German states and so long. In conclusion, the book shows the horrors and struggles of the often forgotten battlefields on 1918. the resurgence of the war of movement and the hardships with which it was undertaken.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the author states himself, the study of the First World War often pays significantly less attention to how it was won, than how it was fought during the middle years 1916-17. For a British audience the bloodletting of the Somme and Passchendaele dominate. Nick Lloyd has moved forward to try and address the relative gap of 1918 with this book.

Covering the German spring offensives for context, Lloyd takes the reader through the allied offensives starting in late July/early august through to the signing of the armistice on 11 November. This chronological account makes it clear how surprising the final collapse of Germany was, and how near the allies were to resting up for winter before continuing in the spring of 1919. Even as
Commanders like Haig became more convinced victory was in sight.

Providing a perspective of the chaos on the German side, the political machinations that laid the ground work for the Stab in the back myth, and the rise of Hitler later.

An accessible and much needed study of the final days of the First World War, well recommended to anyone wanting a proper understanding of how the conflict was brought to a close on the battlefields of the western front.

[Tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this up immediately after reading Nick Lloyd's excellent book on Passchendaele, which I also recommend. My knowledge of World War One mainly revolves around its' causes - a popular subject at O-Level, A-Level and Degree when I was a lad and The Somme so a lot of this history was new to me.

The thing I like about Lloyd's books - or the two I've read so far - is he tells the story not just from a British point of view. So, here he is good on how the German Army fell apart under the constant pressure of Allied assaults and how the myth of the 'stab in the back' that Hitler was to feed on - perhaps because he felt it was true - developed.

Lloyd's writing is sharp and straightforward*. His research impeccable and he tells the story with a real drive. Highly recommended.

*Straightforward isn't a 'faint praise' btw. There are some historians, not often in military history, who seem to revel in writing that proves how clever they are but ends up being nothing but wanky intellectual frippery.

[Brie_reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always loved and have been fascinated by turn of the twentieth century history and this book outlining the last hundred days in the First World War was amazing. Discussion of Canadian and Australian troops bravery and clout with their Allies, important soldiers’ roles, introduction of American troops into battle, and glimpses of moments in private letters paints a horrific and heartbreaking picture of those final days of a war unlike the world had ever seen.

Reasons I Recommend:

1) Decisions and final plans to push German resistance back and what that was like for both sides

2) Heartbreak over those soldiers who were killed days and hours before a truce was called and

3) What the armistice meant, what it became, and how it shaped the next two decades. This was moving and beautifully written.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#briereads #brierecommends #2025goodreadsreadingchallenge #reviewedongoodreads #reviewedoninstagram #bookworm #lovetoread #idratherbereading #history #worldwarone #hundreddaystheendofthegreatwar #nicklloyd #canadianhistory🇨🇦

[Tony Styles · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Partial Victory…

An excellent read that illustrates perfectly the fact that the war ended too early. If the German soldier went away from the war believing that they had not been beaten in battle then they probably weren’t. To fight on into Germany would’ve altered the collective mindset of a defeated nation and provided a firm political base that removed the power vacuum that gave any possibility for the rise of Nazism. If they had fought on and thoroughly defeated Germany then eighty million lives would’ve been saved, and what is more the world and its values would look very different today. The Armistice gave a partial victory in name only and does a severe injustice to all those who fought and died in the Great War. Nick Lloyd puts all sides to an argument but ends in expressing a similar view to myself that the war was not prosecuted far enough and was sadly only a partial victory. Thoroughly recommended for any student of the Great War.

[Les · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the author says, when looking at the First World War, we tend to focus on the futile battle and the slaughter. Perhaps not surprising given its scale. However, this means that we can overlook the realtively short period in which a conflict that seemed destined to be endless (at least to those at the time) was brought to a conclusion in a fairly short period (albeit with further, significant, loss of life.) Nick Lloyd tells the story in a clear and workmanlike manner. He doesn't bring colour to the story in the way that some other authors can (I'd have liked more on the proceedings in the railway carriage in Compeigne for example.) However, if you have ever wondered how the bloody mess of four years came to an end, what you have here is a lucid account of the last "100 days."

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picked "Hundred Days" up as it's the 100th Anniversary of the end of World War I. My maternal grandfather was wounded, October 23rd 1918, in one of the last pushes against the Germans in the Meuse-Argonne. His unit Company D, of the 115th US Infantry, 29th Division, made the assault on the Bois de Grande Montagne and Bois de Etraye after having liberated Molleville Farm and Richine Hill a week before, north of Verdun. Not only does this book reveal all the other activities, military and political, of the Allies but the increasing tension behind the German High Command and their rapidly devolving political situation throughout the country.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was interesting, but I was kind of reading it at a crazy time. I already knew that the allies had WW1 in the bag by the end and that the "backstab myth" was just that, but the author was right when he said that a lot of media doesn't cover the actual events. What was really interesting was the author's take on the Kaiser, painting him as weak, petty, and problematic, which is a different portrayal than I feel like I've read. Perhaps he's particularly anti-German Empire, or it could just be a point of view I haven't encountered before.

[Adam Coombs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book but the level of detail is uneven. Lloyd spends a significant amount of time on the early battles during the 100 Days (Amiens for example) but then much less on key engagements such as the crossing of the Canal du Nord. The book is only 300 pages of actual text and could easily be another 100 pages.

Overall, well worth a read but if you are interested in the experience of individual national forces then you need to supplement this book with others.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyable. Very well researched and written - strategy, human experience and clarity. Excellent, diverse and comprehensive personal assessments - from all sides. A fair assessment of a dreadful war. Furthermore, it concludes where it should, leaving the immediate post war Germany for someone else to assess.

[James Wetherill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic! An incredible detailed and interesting account of the on often overlooked fact: the Allies actually WON World War One.
Understandably western collective memory has focused on the mud and the blood of the trenches, and I always dismissed WW1 as just the prelude to WW2, but I have been forced to re-examine that attitude by this excellent account

[trevor fowler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written, not too academic.

I found the book too short, I wanted more detail. What was there was very good but in a history of the type you need more detail and I felt a bit cheated when I came to end. A book thats halfway between a text book and light reading.

[Peter Evison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoroughly researched and written throughout with the words from those who were there at all levels and all sides, a dispassionate record of the end of this terrible conflict. Stops at 11 Nov 1918, ie doesn't cover Versailles or the details of the armistice.

[Harvey Portier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took me a while to finish due to trips, moving house and changing jobs but it was good to read, a bit slow in some bits but the details on battles was really well written I thought, would recommend as I learned a lot from it.

[John H Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

exceptional

A truly outstanding record of a “not so well known” campaign in the Great War. I particularly enjoyed the insight into the political and military decisions which brought the War to a close.