MARC Record from marc_openlibraries_phillipsacademy

LEADER: 04007cam a22004094a 4500
001 2138914
003 NOBLE
005 20021010085033.0
008 020301s2002 nyuabf b 001 0 eng
010 $a2002019475
020 $a0385503938 :
035 $a(OCoLC)49285550
040 $aDLC$cDLC
042 $apcc
043 $ae-fr---
049 $aPANA
050 00 $aD545.V3$bO97 2002
082 00 $a940.4/272$221
092 $a940.42$bOu8r
100 1 $aOusby, Ian,$d1947-
245 14 $aThe road to Verdun :$bWorld War I's most momentous battle and the folly of nationalism /$cIan Ousby.
246 3 $aWorld War one's most momentous battle
250 $a1st ed.
260 $aNew York :$bDoubleday,$c2002.
300 $aix, 393 p., [16] p. of plates :$bill., maps ;$c25 cm.
504 $aIncludes bibliographical references and index.
505 0 $aPrologue: The road to Verdun -- Pt 1. Friction at Verdun, February 1916: 1. The Bois des Caures -- The fall of Douaumont -- Pt 2. The endless crisis, 1870-1914: The raft of the Medusa -- A certain idea of France -- "What is a nation?" -- Pt 3. The mill on the Me Se, March-December 1916: Holding Verdun -- Ending Verdun -- Epilogue: The road from Verdun.
520 $aA powerfully immediate and controversial account of one of the longest and bloodiest engagements of World War I. 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 Valeŕy 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 Pet́ain and de Gaulle--it fed an increasingly venomous enmity between France and Germany, and lay the groundwork for World War II.--Publisher description.
520 $aThe author argues that the French bear responsibility for the senseless slaughter of Verdun. Ousby shows that the French overestimated their strength and were determined to demonize the German forces because of hatreds going back to the Prussian War.
650 0 $aVerdun, Battle of, Verdun, France, 1916.$0(NOBLE)16900
650 0 $aWorld War, 1914-1918$xCampaigns$zFrance.$0(NOBLE)17740
650 0 $aNationalism$zEurope$xHistory$y20th century.
902 $a120428
919 4 $a31867000831045
998 $b1$c031205$d3$e1$f-$g4
901 $a2138914$bIII$c2138914$tbiblio
852 4 $agaaagpl$bPANO$bPANO$cStacks 1$j940.42 OU8R$gbook$p31867000831045$y30.00$t1$xnonreference$xholdable$xcirculating$xvisible$zAvailable