Douglas Haig: The Educated Soldier

by John Terraine

Book Overview

The history of the Western Front and the First World War is one of battles of attrition against an entrenched enemy, with terrible casualties suffered by both sides in some of the worst fighting ever. In this history the picture has emerged of British generals remote and detached from the reality of the trenches who repeatedly sent their men to die in pointless attacks against the enemy. This book, by the renowned historian of the First World War...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0304353191
• ISBN13: 9780304353194
• Release Date: January 1963
• Publisher: Cassell
• Length: 508 Pages
• Weight: 2.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.8" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Hero-worshipping biographer

This is an outstanding work and a necessary read for anyone interested in the First World War. The author's thesis is that Haig was a truly great man, whose hard slog,"wearing down" tactics were the only way to defeat the Germans, and who has been falsely vilified by spiteful politicians and half-baked historians (a la "The Donkeys") ever since the war. The detail is mountaneous, and in the end the proof seems based more on circumstantial evidence than the myraid concrete facts Terraine presents. Only a specialist in warfare and Haig would have the knowledge to offset the author's own conclusions. However, the book is another one of those lamentable histories that ring with Toryism. The author likes to snuggle up with the upper strata. Titles are thrown around unnecessarily (like referring to Churchill as Sir Winston when referring to him 60 years before he was knighted, and to George V always as H.M. The King). That's clearly the kind of person Terrain is, but in me it sews the suspicion that he is not inclined to be objective about his protagonist. There is also a suspicious reference to his disagreements with Liddel Hart's statistics on casualties. I wonder how much else they disagreed on.Nonetheless, this book offers an fascinating insight into the upper eschelons of command in WWI. The thesis is tenable. It is superbly researched and beautifully written. I for one just wish there was someone out there as knowledgeable about Haig as Terraine is who could confirm or refute his views about him. Meanwhile, I for one will not be carelessly slagging off on Haig any more.