{"id":3703,"date":"2014-03-08T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-03-08T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.military-history.us\/?p=3703"},"modified":"2014-03-10T12:37:55","modified_gmt":"2014-03-10T10:37:55","slug":"book-review-verdun-the-longest-battle-of-the-great-war-by-paul-jankowski","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.military-history.us\/2014\/03\/book-review-verdun-the-longest-battle-of-the-great-war-by-paul-jankowski\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: Verdun – The Longest Battle of the Great War by Paul Jankowski"},"content":{"rendered":"

[FULL DISCLOSURE: I received my copy of this book free from the publisher. I was not paid for this review and the opinion expressed is purely my own]<\/strong><\/p>\n

Verdun: The Longest Battle of the Great War<\/a>\"\"\u00a0is one of the flood of new works coming out about\u00a0World War I this year in commemoration of the 100th<\/sup> anniversary of the outbreak of the world\u2019s first truly mechanized war.\u00a0 This book explores the ten month (or eleven, depending on how you count it) battle of Verdun between the Germans and French from February to November 1916.<\/p>\n

It consists of eleven chapters arranged thematically that examine different aspects of the battle from the operational movements of the forces involved to the way the battle was described in the contemporary press to the role of the battle in modern memory. \u00a0There is an extensive appendix on sources, a 29 page list of endnotes and a 20 page bibliography.<\/p>\n

Verdun: The Longest Battle of the Great War<\/a>\u00a0is not a battle history in the traditional sense of the word. \u00a0here is no bow by blow account of the opening days of the battle and the fall of the french forts at Vaux and Duouamont and the subsequent French recapture of much of the contested ground over the course of the battle. \u00a0The book is both more and less than battle history at the same time. \u00a0it examines the battle and the role it played in the course of the war from many angles both military and civilian.<\/p>\n

I found the chapters discussing the views of the battle by the French and German commands especially revealing. \u00a0The standard account is that the Germans intended all along for Verdun to be a battle of attrition and that the French chose to fight so hard there as a matter of honor. \u00a0That myth is exploded in these two chapters and the way in which the battle became a matter of prestige and developed a logic of it’s own is explored in detail. \u00a0Given the level of casualties on both sides that the battle evolved into one of prestige makes sense.<\/p>\n

Even more revealing is the discussion of the various ways in which the battle was portrayed by the media. \u00a0A good picture of the way in which the media can sway public opinion and force policy decisions is described in the media portrayals of the Battle at Verdun. \u00a0The last part of the book that examines the way the memory of the battle has been shaped and its amazing transformation from a symbol of french determination to a landmark of multiculturalism \u00a0and a monument to the futility of war is revealing in the extreme.<\/p>\n

Verdun: The Longest Battle of the Great War<\/a>\u00a0is well-written and logically presented and while it is not traditional battle history it is rewarding to read nonetheless. \u00a0Verdun was one of the greatest blood-lettings of World War I, though not the greatest as it has been said, that was the opening months of the war. \u00a0It is time for an objective re-examination of this supposedly pivotal battle that in the end achieved nothing of strategic significance, unless you think killing off a large cohort of enemy troops is strategic results. \u00a0I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in World War I and even more to people who want to understand how the perceptions of wars and battles are shaped more by those who were not there than than by those who were.<\/p>\n