Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.
Title details for Fire and Movement by Peter Hart - Available

Fire and Movement

The British Expeditionary Force and the Campaign of 1914

by Peter Hart
ebook
1 of 1 copy available
Borrow Read a sample Read a sample
1 of 1 copy available
The dramatic opening weeks of the Great War passed into legend long before the conflict ended. The British Expeditionary Force fought a mesmerizing campaign, outnumbered and outflanked but courageous and skillful, holding the line against impossible odds, sacrificing themselves to stop the last great German offensive of 1914. A remarkable story of high hopes and crushing disappointment, the campaign contains moments of sheer horror and nerve-shattering excitement; pathos and comic relief; occasional cowardice and much selfless courage—all culminating in the climax of the First Battle of Ypres. And yet, as Peter Hart shows in this gripping and revisionary look at the war's first year, for too long the British part in the 1914 campaigns has been veiled in layers of self-congratulatory myth: a tale of poor unprepared Britain, reliant on the peerless class of her regular soldiers to bolster the rabble of the unreliable French Army and defeat the teeming hordes of German troops. But the reality of those early months is in fact far more complex—and ultimately, Hart argues, far more powerful than the standard triumphalist narrative. Fire and Movement places the British role in 1914 into a proper historical context, incorporating the personal experiences of the men who were present on the front lines. The British regulars were indeed skillful soldiers, but as Hart reveals, they also lacked practice in many of the required disciplines of modern warfare, and the inexperience of officers led to severe mistakes. Hart also provides a more accurate portrait of the German Army they faced—not the caricature of hordes of automatons, but the reality of a well-trained and superlatively equipped force that outfought the BEF in the early battles—and allows readers to come to a full appreciation of the role of the French Army, without whom the Marne never would have been won. Ultimately Fire and Movement shows the story of the 1914 campaigns to be an epic tale, and one which needs no embellishment. Through the voices and recollections of the soldiers who were there, Hart strips away the myth to offer a clear-eyed account of the remarkable early days of the Great War.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    October 1, 2014

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9780199355532

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9780199355532
      • File size: 16602 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Kirkus

      October 15, 2014
      An accessible scholarly history of how the British Expeditionary Force found its legs during the first months of World War I. Imperial War Museum oral historian Hart (The Great War: A Combat History of the First World War, 2013, etc.) has combed the archives for firsthand witnesses to the fraught first decisions and movements by the British and French armies to check the aggression across Europe of imperial Germany and Austro-Hungary. Traditionally enjoying maritime supremacy, Britain had to take stock as Germany began to build up its own fleet and massive continental army in accordance with the thinking of Gen. Albert von Schlieffen, as well as his successor, Gen. Helmuth von Moltke (the Younger), that the way to knock out France quickly was to move laterally through Belgium and Luxembourg. German aggression forced Britain to ally with France in the signing of the Anglo-French entente in 1906. This contributed to the secretive building up of a BEF under the direction of Gen. Sir Henry Wilson to "stand alongside the French." The British had learned much about modern warfare since the Boer War of 1899-1902: The cavalry was on the wane and the machine gun on the rise, while important British generals continued to emerge, including Sir John French and Sir Douglas Haig. Moreover, "close-order attacks" had ended, the system of trenches was developed, and the "movement" of men was achieved over open ground by heavy covering "fire" (hence Hart's title). Indeed, the BEF (made up of many Irish and colonial recruits) proved itself a valiant foe against the larger German onslaught, from the battles of Mons in August through Ypres in late October, the race to the sea and the halted British retreat. Dispelling close-held myths, Hart presents extracts from diaries and letters by soldiers and officers for an in-the-moment account. A World War I authority offers a focused, organized, evenhanded work of research.

      COPYRIGHT(2014) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

Loading