Verdun

Verdun PDF Author: Paul Jankowski
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199316910
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 368

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Book Description
At seven o'clock in the morning on February 21, 1916, the ground in northern France began to shake. For the next ten hours, twelve hundred German guns showered shells on a salient in French lines. The massive weight of explosives collapsed dugouts, obliterated trenches, severed communication wires, and drove men mad. As the barrage lifted, German troops moved forward, darting from shell crater to shell crater. The battle of Verdun had begun. In Verdun, historian Paul Jankowski provides the definitive account of the iconic battle of World War I. A leading expert on the French past, Jankowski combines the best of traditional military history-its emphasis on leaders, plans, technology, and the contingency of combat-with the newer social and cultural approach, stressing the soldier's experience, the institutional structures of the military, and the impact of war on national memory. Unusually, this book draws on deep research in French and German archives; this mastery of sources in both languages gives Verdun unprecedented authority and scope. In many ways, Jankowski writes, the battle represents a conundrum. It has an almost unique status among the battles of the Great War; and yet, he argues, it was not decisive, sparked no political changes, and was not even the bloodiest episode of the conflict. It is said that Verdun made France, he writes; but the question should be, What did France make of Verdun? Over time, it proved to be the last great victory of French arms, standing on their own. And, for France and Germany, the battle would symbolize the terror of industrialized warfare, "a technocratic Moloch devouring its children," where no advance or retreat was possible, yet national resources poured in ceaselessly, perpetuating slaughter indefinitely.

Verdun

Verdun PDF Author: Paul Jankowski
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199316910
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 368

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Book Description
At seven o'clock in the morning on February 21, 1916, the ground in northern France began to shake. For the next ten hours, twelve hundred German guns showered shells on a salient in French lines. The massive weight of explosives collapsed dugouts, obliterated trenches, severed communication wires, and drove men mad. As the barrage lifted, German troops moved forward, darting from shell crater to shell crater. The battle of Verdun had begun. In Verdun, historian Paul Jankowski provides the definitive account of the iconic battle of World War I. A leading expert on the French past, Jankowski combines the best of traditional military history-its emphasis on leaders, plans, technology, and the contingency of combat-with the newer social and cultural approach, stressing the soldier's experience, the institutional structures of the military, and the impact of war on national memory. Unusually, this book draws on deep research in French and German archives; this mastery of sources in both languages gives Verdun unprecedented authority and scope. In many ways, Jankowski writes, the battle represents a conundrum. It has an almost unique status among the battles of the Great War; and yet, he argues, it was not decisive, sparked no political changes, and was not even the bloodiest episode of the conflict. It is said that Verdun made France, he writes; but the question should be, What did France make of Verdun? Over time, it proved to be the last great victory of French arms, standing on their own. And, for France and Germany, the battle would symbolize the terror of industrialized warfare, "a technocratic Moloch devouring its children," where no advance or retreat was possible, yet national resources poured in ceaselessly, perpetuating slaughter indefinitely.

Rust

Rust PDF Author: Jonathan Waldman
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1451691602
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Book Description
Originally publlished in hardcover in 2015 by Simon & Schuster.

A Measureless Peril

A Measureless Peril PDF Author: Richard Snow
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1416591117
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 370

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Book Description
In "A Measureless Peril, " the historian Richard Snow captures all the drama of the merciless contest between the quickly built U.S. warships and the ever-more cunning and lethal U-boats that controlled the sea lanes of the Atlantic during WWII.

The Longest War

The Longest War PDF Author: Peter L. Bergen
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0743278941
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 498

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Book Description
At a critical moment in world history The Longest War provides the definitive account of the ongoing battle against terror. --Book Jacket.

The Longest Afternoon

The Longest Afternoon PDF Author: Brendan Simms
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0465039944
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 192

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Book Description
From the prizewinning author of Europe, a riveting account of the heroic Second Light Battalion, which held the line at Waterloo, defeating Napoleon and changing the course of history. In 1815, the deposed emperor Napoleon returned to France and threatened the already devastated and exhausted continent with yet another war. Near the small Belgian municipality of Waterloo, two large, hastily mobilized armies faced each other to decide the future of Europe-Napoleon's forces on one side, and the Duke of Wellington on the other. With so much at stake, neither commander could have predicted that the battle would be decided by the Second Light Battalion, King's German Legion, which was given the deceptively simple task of defending the Haye Sainte farmhouse, a crucial crossroads on the way to Brussels. In The Longest Afternoon, Brendan Simms captures the chaos of Waterloo in a minute-by-minute account that reveals how these 400-odd riflemen successfully beat back wave after wave of French infantry. The battalion suffered terrible casualties, but their fighting spirit and refusal to retreat ultimately decided the most influential battle in European history.

The Longest Siege

The Longest Siege PDF Author: Robert Lyman
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
ISBN: 9780330510813
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 356

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Book Description
The siege of Tobruk was a pivotal battle which influenced the outcome of the Second World War. In this book Robert Lyman describes the 'David versus Goliath' confrontation that ensued when Allied forces took on Rommel's Panzer divisions in the Libyan port.

Verdun

Verdun PDF Author: Paul Jankowski
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199316899
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 346

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Book Description
Paul Jankowski offers a fresh look at Verdun, one of the longest and bloodiest battles of the First World War, in a book the will surely become the standard work on the topic.

The Longest Battle

The Longest Battle PDF Author: Richard Hough
Publisher: Canelo + ORM
ISBN: 1800325355
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 687

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Book Description
This is the story of the greatest naval conflict in history ‘The Second World War demanded more of its sailors than any other war in history, in endurance and unremitting need to face danger - danger from increasingly lethal weapons and an ever-increasing need for vigilance by day and night.' The war at sea - the longest battle of the Second World War - never ceased. From the Arctic Circle to the Pacific, the enemy threat was ever-present, on the surface, in the skies, and lurking beneath the waves. In this comprehensive and compelling history, Richard Hough brings the titanic struggle to life. Using personal accounts from veterans of all sides, his book tells the story of the Second World War at sea, including the Battle of the Atlantic and the U-boat menace, the infamy of Pearl Harbor, the American triumph at Midway, naval operations in support of D-Day, and the greatest naval battle of all time, Leyte Gulf. The definitive book about naval power in the Second World War, Richard Hough’s masterpiece is essential reading for followers of Max Hastings and James Holland. ‘We are in Richard Hough’s debt’ New York Times ‘Utterly absorbing’ Financial Times

The Longest Winter

The Longest Winter PDF Author: Alex Kershaw
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0141901764
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 368

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Book Description
A cold winter morning in the Ardennes Forest, 1944, and Hitler launches his last and most audacious attack on the unprepared Allies. Standing between the German forces and the desperately regrouping Allies were just eighteen young Americans, hidden in fox holes. In a fierce day-long battle, this small band of soldiers repulsed the German attack three times, inflicting severe casualties and defending a strategically vital hill despite being vastly outnumbered. They surrendered only when they ran out of ammunition. But then the real battle for survival began ... Alex Kershaw's brilliant account draws on the words of the decorated men who fought this heroic action, bringing vividly to life their struggle on the battlefield and later off it - as POWs.

Verdun

Verdun PDF Author: John Mosier
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0451414632
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 400

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Book Description
Alongside Waterloo and Gettysburg, the Battle of Verdun during the First World War stands as one of history’s greatest clashes. Perfect for military history buffs, this compelling account of one of World War I’s most important battles explains why it is also the most complex and misunderstood. Although British historians have always seen Verdun as a one-year battle designed by the German chief of staff to bleed France white, historian John Mosier’s careful analysis of the German plans reveals a much more abstract and theoretical approach. From the very beginning of the war until the armistice in 1918, no fewer than eight distinct battles were waged there. These conflicts are largely unknown, even in France, owing to the obsessive secrecy of the French high command. Our understanding of Verdun has long been mired in myths, false assumptions, propaganda, and distortions. Now, using numerous accounts of military analysts, serving officers, and eyewitnesses, including French sources that have never been translated, Mosier offers a compelling reassessment of the Great War’s most important battle.