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25+ opere 347 membri 8 recensioni

Sull'Autore

Brian Bond is Emeritus Professor of Military History at King's College, London.

Comprende il nome: Brian Bond

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Informazioni generali

Data di nascita
1936
Sesso
male
Nazionalità
UK

Utenti

Recensioni

Used hardback in good condition £20 and above.
 
Segnalato
JJ27VV | Apr 15, 2022 |
A study of representations (mostly, according to the author, misrepresentations) of World War I in British literature, film, television, stage, and history. Concludes with a review recent military historiography. Predicts future areas of research in the military history of World War I. Very interesting.
 
Segnalato
gtross | 1 altra recensione | Dec 8, 2021 |
Haig – A Re-Appraisal 80 Years On

Since the trendy teaching of history from the 1960s, Douglas Haig has been lambasted to the point that what was being said about him did not actually reflect how the people, and soldiers of the Great War felt about him.

The often-used phrase “Lions led by Donkeys” in reference to the Generals, while people think it inventive The Times used the phrase reference to the French leaders in the Franco-Prussian War but it was used many centuries before. It was also the source of the title of one of the most scathing examinations of British First World War generals, The Donkeys—a study of Western Front offensives—by politician and writer of military histories Allan Clark, which did much to colour the teaching of the war since its publication.

In recent years that has been a far more nuanced look at Haig and the how the commanders ran the various campaigns, and some of the leading experts such as Prof Gary Sheffield, Niall Barr and Stephen Badsey. These are the people I turn to if I wish to know and understand more about the First World War, and as an undergraduate I found their writing engaging, challenging and inspiring. As they like, the writers in the essays in this book, challenge the modern conventions, look at the primary sources and dig down in other source material also. They do not make terrible glib statements that someone like Allan Clark was guilty of.

Haig, A Re-Appraisal 80 Years On is a collection of 14 essays by some of the leading academics in Britain on the conduct of the First World War by the British. All these excellent essays look at various aspects of Haig, how he was dealt with by historian, there is an excellent Portrait of a Commander in Chief by John Hussay. One of the most insightful essays is the essay written jointly by Gary Sheffield and Niall Barr, Douglas Haig, The Common Soldier and the British Legion, this will open the eyes of those who do not know or understand Haig and the relationship he had with the soldiers of the British Army.

There is much to be learnt from this excellent text, and any student of modern warfare, leadership should be a set text. As these leading scholars are blowing apart the lazy teaching of recent years and really giving us an insight into Haig without the hyperbole of late twentieth century scholars. I cannot recommend this book highly enough, and it will may even challenge some of your modern conceptions about Haig.
… (altro)
 
Segnalato
atticusfinch1048 | Jul 30, 2017 |
Brian Bond's 'Britain's Two World Wars against Germany' is a slim volume that offers a somewhat in-depth look at the continued myths that cloud our history and memory of both World Wars when it comes to British efforts. The Second World War is regularly viewed as the 'good' war with acceptable casualties and brilliant commanders while the First World War is too often seen as the 'donkeys' leading the 'lions' to slaughter. Bond convincingly points out that the Battle of the Somme, more specifically the first day of the Somme, has continued to influence our views and perceptions of the First World War when in fact so many other encounters with the enemy occurred that resulted in victories and, more importantly in some ways, taking the war in its entirety shows the progression of military art among the British that eventually led to the defeat of the Germans on the Western Front. While casualties were certainly much greater in WWI than WWII that's partly because of the limited time the British spent on the ground fighting the axis powers in large numbers, compared to the regular encounters on the Western Front of the First World War. While many mistakes were made by generals in the First World War they certainly learned from their errors and continued to improve, in part by incorporating new technology and more of it. All the military arms in the First World War grew by tremendous numbers (tank, air force, artillery, etc.) and combined arms operations helped pave the way to victory, while the Second World War featured a Britain that defied the Germans but had to continually rely on more powerful allies (the USSR and America) to undertake the brunt of the struggle in defeating Nazi Germany. Some of the campaigns undertaken by the British and the allies in the Second World War actually proved more costly when viewed by casualties per day statistics than battles in the First World War. Even though this is a volume that relies on secondary sources its quite a good fit in today's 'memory wars' that are continually going on in regards to the Second World War and the First World War considering the centenary celebrations. But it also becomes quickly apparent that much research remains to be done to do justice to both World Wars in order to separate myths from reality and fact from fiction.… (altro)
 
Segnalato
Kunikov | Feb 13, 2016 |

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Opere
25
Opere correlate
2
Utenti
347
Popolarità
#68,853
Voto
½ 3.7
Recensioni
8
ISBN
64

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