Forgotten Victory: The First World War: Myths and Realities

by Gary Sheffield

Paperback, 2002

Status

Available

Call number

940.4

Genres

Publication

Headline Review (2002), Paperback

Description

Gary Sheffield contends that the popular view that the First World War was, in the words of historian John Keegan, 'tragic and unnecessary', is wrong. It is his strongly argued belief that such a conclusion does not represent the cutting edge of research into the most controversial conflict in British history. Based on twenty years of research, as well as reflecting the interpretations of the revisionist school of historians based around the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, the Imperial War Museum and the British Commission for Military History, this book challenges the fundamental assumptions underpinning the 'traditional' belief that the First World War was a wholly futile conflict.

User reviews

LibraryThing member Chalky

I found this book an incredibly exciting read because it changed the way I thought about the Great War. I had shared the conventional wisdom that the war had been a tragic, futile shambles - Sheffield, whilst agreeing that all wars are tragic, argues (and successfully in my view) that Britain's

involvement was necessary and that although a steep learning curve had to be climbed it was by no means a shambles. This book is also a must for anyone studying the war poets in Eng. Lit.

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LibraryThing member john257hopper

"The First World War was a just and necessary war fought against a militarist, aggressive autocracy. In Britain and the United States it is a forgotten victory. It has remained forgotten for too long."

With this conclusion, the author ends this work which embodies the arguments of the critical mass

of modern day historians of the Great War who, taking into account the experiences and knowledge of people at the time, rather than relying on hindsight, have challenged the view that the war was wholly futile and pointless, a pure and simple chaos consisting of trenches, mud and poetry, with little to choose between the warring states. The battles of the Western Front rightly remain the core focus of this and any other history of the war, but the growing role of technology such as tanks, aeroplanes and more efficient artillery and explosives in turning the tide of the war are also covered. The war at sea, often overlooked, is also vital in understanding how Britain was able to keep the Channel open for the supply of the army in France and Belgium. Crucial are the lessons learned after the horrors of the Somme in 1916: following this, the BEF and Haig underwent a "learning curve" or at least a sometimes erratic "learning process", involving better co-ordination of artillery and infantry and better use of communications, which bore fruit as the war of attrition eventually ground down their opponents' resources. Thus the war in 1917-18 was of a very different character from its course in the preceding years, though this was by no means of course a simple linear improvement in the Allies' fortunes. This is a fascinating and very readable exploration of issues connected with the Great War.

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