All,

With the "Stupid" Generals thread in mind, can I please ask for book recommendations that you would consider provide the best and most in-depth studies of the conduct of Great War generalship?

I confess that my limited knowledge of available material starts and finishes with "Haig: A Reappraisal"

To anyone that replies: Many thanks in advance.
To anyone that does not reply: Carry on ignoring me, you won't be alone and I won't be offended!

All the best,

Ian.

Here are some I have read and can recommend.
Directing Operations; Andy Simpson
British Fighting Methods in the Great War; Paddy Griffith
British Generalship on the Western Front 1914-1918; Simon Robbins
General Jack's Diary; John Terraine
Command on the Western Front; Prior & Wilson.
Most of those were written in the last twenty or so years. For a contemporary view of the generals, all the high command have had biographies written some more than one. There are many books on Haig and two versions of his diaries.
There are many many more ( I have about a dozen relating to Haig alone) but that would give you a start.

A Brigadier in France, by Hamway Cumming (I hope I got that right) is an excellent book, available, I think, from Naval & Military Press. I'd agree with Mr Rutherford's suggestions, too, and a lot of the modern histories are good at evaluating performance: one I have just finished and would happily recommend is Bloody Victory, by William Philpott, which looks ate the subject through the Battles of the Somme (and is very good on the French, too).

A book of essays produced by the British Commission for Military History, Look to Your Front - studies in the First World War (Brian Bond et al) is also worth looking at.

Tom and Steven,

Many thanks for your suggestions, they are much appreciated.

All the best,

Ian.

Ian

Here are some useful books:

'Haig's Generals' - edited by Ian F.W Beckett and Steven J.Corvi - first published in 2006 ISBN 1 84415 169 7. An excellent book with a chapter on each of the following: Allenby, Birdwood, Byng, Gough, Horne, Monro, Plumer, Rawlinson, Smith Dorrien.

'The Great War Generals on the Western Front 1914-18' by Robin Neillands first published in 1999. ISBN 1-85487 900 6.

'Command in the Royal Naval Division - A Military Biography of Brigadier General A.M.Asquith DSO,' first published in 1999. ISBN 1 86227 048 1.

It depends how detailed you want to get but to gain a better appreciation of the man and his staff then the opportunity also presents to examine correspondence in books such as:

'Allenby in Palestine - The Middle East Correspondence of FM Viscount Allenby' by Matthew Hughes - published in 2004 ISBN 0 7509 3841 2 for the Army Records Society.

'The Military Correspondence of FM Sir Henry Wilson 1918-22' likewise that of 'FM Sir William Robertson 1915-18 ' for the Army Records Society.

The more extensively one reads one's chosen subject then one gains a far wider appreciation, acknowledging that history is littered with differences of opinion.

For further details see www.armyrecordssociety.org.uk


Philip