Over the Top: Great Battles of the First World War

by Martin Marix Evans

The early battles of the First World War during the autumn and winter of 1914 were open, mobile affairs of the kind long familiar to professional soldiers. By early 1915, however, a new type of war had emerged - trench warfare. Over the Top offers an innovative examination of trench warfare on the Western Front and Gallipoli during 1914-1918 in the major battles that influenced the outcome of the First World War.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War I, War, Military History, Military Fiction, Historical

240 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2002

Reviews

[Gilles Demaneuf · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short fragmentary treatment, with a focus on British and American actions.
I certainly learnt with interest how the artillery / infantry roles improved dramatically over the war, with better communication lines too. Also the role of the air force and of tanks in the later part of the war is alluded to, but not really analyzed.
I would like to read more about Monash, the French army mutinies in 1917 after Nivelle's excesses (which incapacitated the French army until early 1918), the role of colonial troops, and the colored regiments of the American 93rd Division (369, 371, 372 Infantry) - trained by the French, armed by the French, most often dressed in French uniforms, and who did perform very well.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short but detailed general survey of the First World War's significant battles involving British soldiers...perhaps a tad too technical for the non-militarist with a plethora of numbered units of the five main protagonists...Britain, France,Canada,Australia & the U.S...up against Germany &, in the Dardanelles, Turkey. A slow read about a terrible struggle for supremacy in the barbed-wire & trenches.

[Adam Halilovic · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book but what stopped me giving it 5 stars was the fact that it had a lot of detail about the positions of battles down to the ridge names and towns but very view detailed maps so if u are unfamiliar with the aera like I am it kind of made it redundant with out the maps to give the reader a better guide to what was happening and the troop movements

[Rich Maher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written but lacked maps. One map at the beginning of the chapter. would have been better able to follow the narrative with more maps. where are the towns, rivers etc. described in the text?

[John Naylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't know what to expect when I started reading this book. It could have been a book that glorified war, it could have been one that used cheap tabloid tricks and phrases to full effect or it could have been a very dry telling of the battles without adding human touches to the accounts.

It turned out to be mostly the latter.

All the facts are there. All the major players are mentioned and accounted for. All the battles happened. The author just recounted them for the most part in a desensitised way. It is how I imagine that a BBC newsreader would have read things out many years after the war. There was no human interest in the telling of the majority of battles. Just statistics and who was in charge.

The book could also have been helped by a few more maps or photos to give the reader a better understanding of the areas of battle.

I cannot recommend this book as those with an interest in World War 1 can find better sources and better reads while a more casual reader will probably struggle to get through the wall of text with very little human interest to it. I didn't give it one star as there obviously was some research and thought that went into the book. There was just too little heart for it to get more than two stars.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book...as much as you can enjoy a book about war...but did find it lesser than the last book I read on this subject as it didn't really get into the heart and minds of the men either planning or fighting and as such became a treasury of statistical info and place names.
Not that the above is necessarily a bad things some of the statistical info and 'cameos' of historical figures who would shape history through WW2 where truly fascinating and there's no knocking the research..it's just for me I would have preferred a different kind of book or one that occasionally focused in more detail on a given man within a campaign.
However lots here that I have taken from the book in regard to knowledge and despite it being a kind of heavy read for me I got a lot from it.

[Andrea Anđelić · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting reading, but it lacked more maps and human touch, too much of a dry telling. But at least the author mentioned some biobliography to read from other authors.

Reading athis in Croatian translation that hasn't been proofread was a nightmare: lack of a letter in a word, or whole word, and even half of the sentences in some places. Not to mention not breaking words into correct syllables when entering new row. One would think that translator knew some basics of Croatian grammar or spelling, or the one who was preparing it for publishing. No wonder people are not buying stuff from Marjan Tisak publisher.

[Marko Jovanović · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't recommend to anyone!

[Jeff Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read giving a good detailed account of a number of battles during World War One.

[evan. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I literally only needed it for one specific chapter on the Third Battle of Ypres, and it was way too technical.

[Murf · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lack of maps makes it very hard to follow, otherwise a good and interesting read. Would rate higher if there were maps.

[Drpsychorat]

Book was okay. But typeset was unreadable as only 75% of line was filled with print with broken or decided words on the rest of the page. Frustrating!