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14-18
224 pages, Hardcover
Published March 20, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
October 25, 2026
"Two armies that fight each other is like one large army that commits suicide." (Henri Barbusse)
I picked up this WW1 book at the Verdun Memorial museum. With a visit to the Ossuary, Fort Vaux and Fort Douaumont and the many destroyed villages around the seat of the battle, such as Fleury-devant-Douaumont, I wanted to relive the different fronts of WW1. The book does not disappoint although it is an informative work rather than historical. Divided into short digestible chapters, it suits the layman and it is likely a good school resource. Photographic evidence is excellent and really gives the reader a sense of the battle and trench warfare. What struck me the most is that the Verdun battle was in the end declared strategically useless with zero to no gain for either side. Yet 130000 soldiers are buried there. From all walks of life, German, French, Brits, Senegalese, Moroccan, Vietnamese. I wonder how long interest in this war will be sustained now that all the veterans are gone and that so many other conflicts have followed. I particularly liked the many images of French war propaganda, this being a French author translated into English.
I picked up this WW1 book at the Verdun Memorial museum. With a visit to the Ossuary, Fort Vaux and Fort Douaumont and the many destroyed villages around the seat of the battle, such as Fleury-devant-Douaumont, I wanted to relive the different fronts of WW1. The book does not disappoint although it is an informative work rather than historical. Divided into short digestible chapters, it suits the layman and it is likely a good school resource. Photographic evidence is excellent and really gives the reader a sense of the battle and trench warfare. What struck me the most is that the Verdun battle was in the end declared strategically useless with zero to no gain for either side. Yet 130000 soldiers are buried there. From all walks of life, German, French, Brits, Senegalese, Moroccan, Vietnamese. I wonder how long interest in this war will be sustained now that all the veterans are gone and that so many other conflicts have followed. I particularly liked the many images of French war propaganda, this being a French author translated into English.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review