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In mid-February 1916, the Germans launched a surprise major offensive at Verdun, an important fortress in northeast France. By mid-March, more than 90,000 French troops had been killed or wounded. The fighting continued for seven long months, with casualties on both sides mounting in astonishing numbers. By the end of the year, the battle had claimed more than 700,000 victims. The butchery had little impact on the course of the war, and Verdun soon became the most potent symbol of the horrors of the war in general, and of trench warfare in particular.
Ian Ousby offers a radical, iconoclastic reevaluation of the meaning and import of this cataclysmic battle in The Road to Verdun. Moving beyond the narrow focus of most military historians, he argues that the French bear a tremendous responsibility for the senseless slaughter. In a work that merges intellectual substance and great battle writing, Ousby shows that the roots of the disaster lay in the French national character–the grandiose, even delusional way they perceived themselves, and their relentless determination to demonize Germans, which began in the debacle of the Franco-Prussian War. Ousby analyzes the generals’ battle plans, and provides a graphic, gripping account of the deprivations and inhumane suffering of the troops who manned the trenches. His incisive, moving descriptions make it painfully clear why the influential French critic and poet Paul Valéry called Verdun “a complete war in itself, inserted in the Great War.”
In telling the story of Verdun, Ousby demonstrates that the confrontation marked a critical midpoint in Franco-German hostility. The battle not only carried the burden of history, but with the presence on the battlefield of France’s future leaders–including Pétain and de Gaulle–it fed an increasingly venomous enmity between France and Germany, and lay the groundwork for World War II.
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Campaigns, World War I, 1914-1918, Verdun, Battle of, 1916, History, Nationalism, France, World War, 1914-1918, Verdun, Battle of, Verdun, France, 1916, Slaget vid Verdun 1916, New York Times reviewed, Verdun, battle of, verdun, france, 1916, World war, 1914-1918, campaigns, World war, 1914-1918, france, Nationalism, europePeople
Philippe Pétain, Charles de GaullePlaces
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20th centuryShowing 6 featured editions. View all 6 editions?
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The Road to Verdun: World War I's Most Momentous Battle and the Folly of Nationalism
June 10, 2003, Anchor
in English
0385721730 9780385721738
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3
The road to Verdun: World War I's most momentous battle and the folly of nationalism
2002, Doubleday
in English
- 1st ed.
0385503938 9780385503938
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4
The Road to Verdun: World War I's Most Momentous Battle and the Folly of Nationalism
May 14, 2002, Doubleday
in English
0385503938 9780385503938
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5
The road to Verdun: World War I's most momentous battle and the folly of nationalism
2002, Anchor Books
in English
0385503938 9780385503938
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6
The Road to Verdun: France, Nationalism and the First World War
January 2002, Jonathan Cape
Hardcover
in English
0224059904 9780224059909
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Book Details
First Sentence
"Surprise and speed, assets that military commanders have always been schooled to prize above virtually all others, were rarely at their disposal in the First World War."
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First Sentence
"Surprise and speed, assets that military commanders have always been schooled to prize above virtually all others, were rarely at their disposal in the First World War."
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- Created April 29, 2008
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August 5, 2010 | Edited by IdentifierBot | added LibraryThing ID |
April 24, 2010 | Edited by Open Library Bot | Fixed duplicate goodreads IDs. |
April 16, 2010 | Edited by bgimpertBot | Added goodreads ID. |
April 14, 2010 | Edited by Open Library Bot | Linked existing covers to the edition. |
April 29, 2008 | Created by an anonymous user | Imported from amazon.com record |