Home Before the Leaves Fall
A New History of the German Invasion of 1914
1st Edition
Published on 20. July 2012
400 pages
978-1-78096-866-7 (ISBN)
Description
The result of years of research in British, French and German archives, this is a new critical history of how close Germany came to winning the First World War in 1914.
The German invasion of France and Belgium in August 1914 came close to defeating the French armies, capturing Paris and ending the First World War before the autumn leaves had fallen. But the German armies failed to score the knock-out blow they had planned and the war would drag on for four years of unprecedented slaughter.
There are many accounts of 1914 from the British point of view, and the achievements of the British Expeditionary Force are the stuff of legend. But in reality, there were only four British divisions in the field, while the French and Germans had more than 60 each. The real story of the battle can only be told by an author with the skill to mine the extensive German and French archives.
Ian Senior does this with consummate skill, weaving together strategic analysis with diary entries and interview transcripts from the soldiers on the ground to create a remarkable new history.
The German invasion of France and Belgium in August 1914 came close to defeating the French armies, capturing Paris and ending the First World War before the autumn leaves had fallen. But the German armies failed to score the knock-out blow they had planned and the war would drag on for four years of unprecedented slaughter.
There are many accounts of 1914 from the British point of view, and the achievements of the British Expeditionary Force are the stuff of legend. But in reality, there were only four British divisions in the field, while the French and Germans had more than 60 each. The real story of the battle can only be told by an author with the skill to mine the extensive German and French archives.
Ian Senior does this with consummate skill, weaving together strategic analysis with diary entries and interview transcripts from the soldiers on the ground to create a remarkable new history.
More details
Edition
1. Auflage
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Illustrations
16 b/w
ISBN-13
978-1-78096-866-7 (9781780968667)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
07/2012
Osprey Publishing
€43.51
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Person
Ian Senior read Natural Sciences at Cambridge and has taught at Dulwich College for many years. He is also Associate Lecturer in the History of Art for the Open University and a Principal Examiner for the University of Cambridge International Examination Board. He first became interested in the battlefields of 1914 when visiting his wife's family in her native Belgium. Home Before the Leaves Fall is his first book.
Content
Introduction
1 The Schlieffen-Moltke Plan
2 Plan XVII
3 Opening Moves
4 The Battle of Charleroi
5 The Retreat Begins
6 The Battle of Guise
7 The Retreat Continues
8 The Eve of Battle
9 Taken by Surprise
10 Bloody Days at Trocy
11 The Barrier of the Marshes
12 Struggle for the High Ground
13 Night Attack
14 Stalemate on the Ourcq
15 The Beginning of the End
16 The Last Retreat
17 Analysis
Postscript
Appendices
1 Composition and Order of Battle of the French and German Armies and the British Expeditionary Force
2 Table of Equivalent Ranks
3 Directive of 27 August
4 Joffre's Order for the Battle of the Marne
Notes
Bibliography
Index
1 The Schlieffen-Moltke Plan
2 Plan XVII
3 Opening Moves
4 The Battle of Charleroi
5 The Retreat Begins
6 The Battle of Guise
7 The Retreat Continues
8 The Eve of Battle
9 Taken by Surprise
10 Bloody Days at Trocy
11 The Barrier of the Marshes
12 Struggle for the High Ground
13 Night Attack
14 Stalemate on the Ourcq
15 The Beginning of the End
16 The Last Retreat
17 Analysis
Postscript
Appendices
1 Composition and Order of Battle of the French and German Armies and the British Expeditionary Force
2 Table of Equivalent Ranks
3 Directive of 27 August
4 Joffre's Order for the Battle of the Marne
Notes
Bibliography
Index
