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Douglas Haig: Defeat into Victory
Very few figures in British military history are the subject of such violently opposing views as Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig.
Some see Haig as the man who won the war for the Allies, defeating the German Army through a war of attrition on the Western Front.
Others view him as an incompetent butcher, needlessly sacrificing the lives of thousands of young men for the price of a few metres of ground.
The popular view of Haig today falls into the latter category - that he was unfitted to command Britain’s armies on the Western Front, that he was out of touch with what was happening at the front, and that he was indifferent to the suffering of his men.
And yet a lot of this backlash against him started when it became apparent that the government could not produce a ‘land fit for heroes’ after the war, and people started looking for someone to blame.
Is there evidence to support the criticisms of Haig?
And if not, why do people believe them?
Now that most files relating to the Great War have been released it is now much easier to investigate the evidence relating to Haig than it once was, and Gordon Corrigan has separated the truth about Haig from the legend.
'Douglas Haig: Defeat Into Victory' tells the story of the most controversial commander in the history of the British Army.
Praise for Gordon Corrigan:
‘Political, fluent, well-researched and extremely argumentative’ – Andrew Roberts.
'Meticulously researched and well-written' Pennant
Major Gordon Corrigan is a retired Gurkha officer, a member of the British Commission for Military History and Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society. Fluent in the Nepali language, he is now a freelance military historian and battlefield lecturer. He is a well known figure on the History channel. He is also the author of ‘Sepoys in the Trenches’, ‘Loos: 1915’ and ‘Wellington: A Military Life’.
Endeavour Press is the UK’s leading independent publisher of digital books.
Some see Haig as the man who won the war for the Allies, defeating the German Army through a war of attrition on the Western Front.
Others view him as an incompetent butcher, needlessly sacrificing the lives of thousands of young men for the price of a few metres of ground.
The popular view of Haig today falls into the latter category - that he was unfitted to command Britain’s armies on the Western Front, that he was out of touch with what was happening at the front, and that he was indifferent to the suffering of his men.
And yet a lot of this backlash against him started when it became apparent that the government could not produce a ‘land fit for heroes’ after the war, and people started looking for someone to blame.
Is there evidence to support the criticisms of Haig?
And if not, why do people believe them?
Now that most files relating to the Great War have been released it is now much easier to investigate the evidence relating to Haig than it once was, and Gordon Corrigan has separated the truth about Haig from the legend.
'Douglas Haig: Defeat Into Victory' tells the story of the most controversial commander in the history of the British Army.
Praise for Gordon Corrigan:
‘Political, fluent, well-researched and extremely argumentative’ – Andrew Roberts.
'Meticulously researched and well-written' Pennant
Major Gordon Corrigan is a retired Gurkha officer, a member of the British Commission for Military History and Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society. Fluent in the Nepali language, he is now a freelance military historian and battlefield lecturer. He is a well known figure on the History channel. He is also the author of ‘Sepoys in the Trenches’, ‘Loos: 1915’ and ‘Wellington: A Military Life’.
Endeavour Press is the UK’s leading independent publisher of digital books.
88 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 16, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 9, 2019
A concise account of Haig’s career, principally the Western Front 1914-18, which seeks to put a historical and political context around his actions and aims to redeem some of his reputation. The loss of life was massive - at his peak he had 1.5 million troops under his command.
November 1, 2017
Riverting
Good rollicking read. I would definitely recommend it as an insight into the remote politician's meddling in the active soldier's expertise.
Good rollicking read. I would definitely recommend it as an insight into the remote politician's meddling in the active soldier's expertise.
November 14, 2022
3.5/5 rounding down for goodreads. I got it for £1 on a kindle deal and for that I'm happy with it.
Very short, about 100 pages total. Enjoyable to read. Corrigan takes a VERY pro-Haig point of view, trying to defend Haig against his critics. His main argument is that Haig was a good leader but constrained by factors outside his control as Britain was the junior partner (on land) compared to the French. So the Somme campaign had to be fought to relieve Verdun and Passchendaele had to be fought to buy time for the French army to recover from the mutinies - and in the end these battles did more damage to the Germans than the British anyway. Corrigan also argues against the more personal criticisms of Haig, such as him not leading from close enough to the frontline or him not being interested in technology. I think he argues the case mostly well, although I happened to agree with this point of view before reading this, but he takes it a bit far in the other direction at times.
Very short, about 100 pages total. Enjoyable to read. Corrigan takes a VERY pro-Haig point of view, trying to defend Haig against his critics. His main argument is that Haig was a good leader but constrained by factors outside his control as Britain was the junior partner (on land) compared to the French. So the Somme campaign had to be fought to relieve Verdun and Passchendaele had to be fought to buy time for the French army to recover from the mutinies - and in the end these battles did more damage to the Germans than the British anyway. Corrigan also argues against the more personal criticisms of Haig, such as him not leading from close enough to the frontline or him not being interested in technology. I think he argues the case mostly well, although I happened to agree with this point of view before reading this, but he takes it a bit far in the other direction at times.
September 14, 2017
Haig 's ww1 record defended
Interesting read. Swims against tide of modern perception of Haig. Makes me want to read further about the man who led our troops in ww1
Interesting read. Swims against tide of modern perception of Haig. Makes me want to read further about the man who led our troops in ww1
December 28, 2024
A useful book in providing a military historian with an unashamed defence of Haig and his actions during the First World War. It is clear, succinct and quite readable. However, it lacks in detail and it is apparent the writer intends this to be read by folks already read up on the points he makes in the book (for instance: Haig's support for technology, learning curves at the Somme and Third Ypres, the Hundred Days Offensive in 1918) to fill in the gaps for him.
Therefore, it is clear this book functions as a profession of support for Haig and a call to end the 'Donkey' myth that shrouds his name rather than a detailed narrative history about Haig and his efforts in the war. In that, Corrigan succeeds but it relies on the likes of Mead, Lloyd and Sheffield to do the ground work in proving his claim that Haig was more a success than failure as the correct view to believe.
Therefore, it is clear this book functions as a profession of support for Haig and a call to end the 'Donkey' myth that shrouds his name rather than a detailed narrative history about Haig and his efforts in the war. In that, Corrigan succeeds but it relies on the likes of Mead, Lloyd and Sheffield to do the ground work in proving his claim that Haig was more a success than failure as the correct view to believe.
September 8, 2017
Very much a Douglas Haig Apologia. He really did not make any mistakes, he was the victim of other people's errors, he was really a jolly good chap etc.
Not much else to say really, a pretty good read if you allow for the imbalance.
Not much else to say really, a pretty good read if you allow for the imbalance.
June 9, 2015
Didn't think I was going to but I really loved this book. Well written and highly informative
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews