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Far from a Donkey: The Life of General Sir Ivor Maxse, KCV, CVO, DSO
This Coldstream Guards officer pioneered the development of infantry tactics in WWII. Great stories of battle action and strategic planning from the Boer War, the Sudan, and WWII.
244 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 2, 2025
Useful and full account of the life and military career of a truly professional senior British officer of the Great War. Significant in part (retrospectively, in particular) for his innovative concentration on training for battle, it is slightly disappointing that there is comparatively little detail of exactly what he did, in his short stint, late in the war, as Inspector General of Training. Otherwise strongly recommended.
June 5, 2022
Interesting book about an officer with whose career I was unfamiliar.
May 14, 2016
One of the oddities about the First World War is how limited the literature is on senior commanders other than Haig. Beyond Gough, few of the army commanders have more than one or two scholarly biographies, and the position for the corps commanders is even worse, with most never having been the subject of a proper biography. Given that Ivor Maxse was one of the more interesting corps commanders, John Baynes' biography represented an important contribution.
Baynes wrote as a former soldier himself. This gave him significant advantages as a military biographer, as his personal experience provided insight and understanding of the issues, challenges and context within which Maxse lived. Conversely, it is often clear in the text that Baynes considered his task be to defend Maxse against the criticisms of others. This is most obvious in his discussion of the German March 1918 offensive, which is largely devoted to a rebuttal of comments made by Tim Travers. The consequence of this approach is that the book sometimes feels a little too positive about its subject.
Baynes gives a useful account of Maxse's life, bringing out a number of factors and aspects that provide important insights into his life. For example, I had not previously been aware of the strong connections Maxse had into the inner circles of the British and French political establishments, which were to be of considerable importance during the First World War.
Baynes brings out a number of key facets of Maxse's military career. His early career in the Royal Fusiliers, where he was both rather bored by service in India, yet not overly enthused by the study of the military craft. His transfer into the Coldstream Guards, which seems to have been made largely for social reasons. His steady career progression, especially his service in the Sudan and South Africa, seems to have marked a turning point, which sparked Maxse's notable focus on the importance of training, which culminated in his appointment in July 1918 as Haig's Inspector-General of Training, and which may have been instrumental in his securing ongoing employment after 1918.
But there remain frustrating gaps. Maxse's enthusiasm for training has been noted, but the reader is given only a limited sense of what this involved in practice. In particular, there is little to give an understanding of why Maxse is considered the father of Battle Drill, which became so important in the Second World War (and was still the basis of my own military training in the mid-1980s). Equally, nothing is said regarding reactions within the regiment to Maxse effectively purchasing a commission in the Coldstream in 1891, with only hints that this may not have been particularly positive, especially when he was appointed CO of 3/Coldstream in 1903 after spending the previous seven years on extra-regimental duties.
In summary, a useful and valuable book on an important figure in the British Army, but ultimately somewhat unsatisfying. There remains much scope for a rigorous and critical scholarly biography of Maxse, including an assessment of his impact on the army as a whole. But the existing volume at least provides a good grounding, to be welcomed particularly given the absence of even this for so many of his peers.
Baynes wrote as a former soldier himself. This gave him significant advantages as a military biographer, as his personal experience provided insight and understanding of the issues, challenges and context within which Maxse lived. Conversely, it is often clear in the text that Baynes considered his task be to defend Maxse against the criticisms of others. This is most obvious in his discussion of the German March 1918 offensive, which is largely devoted to a rebuttal of comments made by Tim Travers. The consequence of this approach is that the book sometimes feels a little too positive about its subject.
Baynes gives a useful account of Maxse's life, bringing out a number of factors and aspects that provide important insights into his life. For example, I had not previously been aware of the strong connections Maxse had into the inner circles of the British and French political establishments, which were to be of considerable importance during the First World War.
Baynes brings out a number of key facets of Maxse's military career. His early career in the Royal Fusiliers, where he was both rather bored by service in India, yet not overly enthused by the study of the military craft. His transfer into the Coldstream Guards, which seems to have been made largely for social reasons. His steady career progression, especially his service in the Sudan and South Africa, seems to have marked a turning point, which sparked Maxse's notable focus on the importance of training, which culminated in his appointment in July 1918 as Haig's Inspector-General of Training, and which may have been instrumental in his securing ongoing employment after 1918.
But there remain frustrating gaps. Maxse's enthusiasm for training has been noted, but the reader is given only a limited sense of what this involved in practice. In particular, there is little to give an understanding of why Maxse is considered the father of Battle Drill, which became so important in the Second World War (and was still the basis of my own military training in the mid-1980s). Equally, nothing is said regarding reactions within the regiment to Maxse effectively purchasing a commission in the Coldstream in 1891, with only hints that this may not have been particularly positive, especially when he was appointed CO of 3/Coldstream in 1903 after spending the previous seven years on extra-regimental duties.
In summary, a useful and valuable book on an important figure in the British Army, but ultimately somewhat unsatisfying. There remains much scope for a rigorous and critical scholarly biography of Maxse, including an assessment of his impact on the army as a whole. But the existing volume at least provides a good grounding, to be welcomed particularly given the absence of even this for so many of his peers.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews