The Road to Verdun by Ian Ousby, 0224059904, Lowest Book Price Finder

Customer Reviews:

Not quite what it says it is.

Yes the battle of Verdun is here and Ousby makes the very valid link to the battle in World War 1 to the Franco-Prussian war a generation earlier. It is a masterful portrayal of the chaos of battle and how the Germans captured it almost by accident leading to horrific loss of life on all sides ("we will bleed them white").

He also does an excellent analysis about how this battle became almost synonymous with French nationalism due to almost every French division having served there during the battle.

The reason why it doesn't get the full marks for me is because it does spend too much time talking about other aspects around the military issues- society, theatre etc. Which I have to say are loosely connected to the battle itself. If I wanted a book on social history I would have bought something else and I found it distracting from the battle itself. Also as another reviewer has pointed out, it is a very Allied-centric take on things with the German perspective getting far less attention than needed.

Highly recomended

If you only wants an operational description of the battle this isn't your book. However if you want understand why a nation fought till exahustion for this strip of land, why the men die, why they endure privations and almost constant fear, why France build a endurable icon upon Verdun, then this is YOUR book. And a highly, well written, book. Ousby master the issue at hand and shows a remarkable understanding of the period.

Forty years of national antagonism come to a head.

Ian Ousby's masterful examination of the battle of Verdun is a triumph because it looks back to the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 for the roots of the fearsome struggle which took place in 1914-18. Certainly Mr. Ousby dissects the battle. Many of his passages regarding the sufferings of the poilus in the blasted landscape around Verdun are harrowing in the extreme. But more than "The Mill On The Meuse", "The Road To Verdun" is an account of aggressive nationalism, expiation of percieved shame and national chest-thumping which is hard to believe in 2002. The middle section of the book is the most analytical and perhaps best assists ones understanding of the seemingly
unwinnable battle of Verdun.
One criticism - one which seems to be quite common in many books about the First World War - is the lack of a German viewpoint of any depth.
Overall, an essential read for the serious student or casual reader of history.

"Verdun is a complete war in itself" - Paul Valery (1931)

Shortly before Christmas 1915, General Erich von Falkenhayn was granted an audience with the Kaiser, to gain approval for his strategic plan codenamed Gericht. The stated purpose of the plan was to bleed the French army to death. Other distinguished historians on the Battle of Verdun, such as Alistair Horne, have translated the word Gericht as 'execution ground'. Ian Ousby, however, just as aptly translates the word more generally as 'judgement', and in the same way, re-evaluates the Battle of Verdun, providing a fresh overview of the most revered battle in recent French history.

In an articulate and a neutral stance, Ousby carefully provides the reader with a well researched look at the prevailing attitudes amid the French press of the time, which helped the society to accept, condone and prolong one of the most horrific battles of the First World War. He provides detail of the actual battle itself, whilst introducing the reader to both the influential thinkers and strategists of the two nations as well as providing an insight into the very psyche of those living in and commanding over the trenches and fortifications of Verdun.

Ousby demonstrates that Verdun came as a consequence of the Franco-Prussian War and subsequent German Unification, vividly describing the very 'Road to Verdun'. At times, with a reasoned and persuasive argument, he hints strongly at the fact that whilst the physical location of this great battle may not be so significant, this battle of complete annihilation was ultimately inevitable. Illustrating the presence of both Petain and De Gaulle at Verdun, along with the subsequent creation of Maginot Line after the war, he is able to show how it provided a stepping-stone in the development of French political and military thinking.

'The Road to Verdun' gives an essential insight for any historical expert or amateur who wishes to gain a greater understanding of the battle itself, along with the road leading up to it, and away from its devastating mark in history.

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