Nick Lloyd

A History of the Great War, 1914-1918

The Western Front

"The definitive account of Passchendaele, one of the most influential and tragic battles of the First World War. Passchendaele. The name of a small, seemingly insignificant Flemish village echoes across the twentieth century as the ultimate expression of meaningless, industrialized slaughter. In the summer of 1917, upwards of 500,000 men were killed or wounded, maimed, gassed, drowned, or buried in this small corner of Belgium. On the centennial of the battle, military historian Nick Lloyd brings to vivid life this epic encounter along the Western Front. Drawing on both British and German sources, he is the first historian to reveal the astonishing fact that, for the British, Passchendaele was an eminently winnable battle. Yet the advance of British troops was undermined by their own high command, which, blinded by hubris, clung to failed tactics. The result was a familiar one: stalemate. Lloyd forces us to consider that trench warfare was not necessarily a futile endeavor, and that had the British won at Passchendaele, they might have ended the war early, saving hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of lives. A captivating narrative of heroism and folly, Passchendaele is an essential addition to the literature on the Great War."--provided by publisher.

the lost victory of World War I

Passchendaele

The End of the Great War

Hundred Days

A History of the First World War

Western Front

Between July and November 1917, in a small corner of Belgium, more than 500,000 men were killed or maimed, gassed or drowned - and many of the bodies were never found. The Ypres offensive represents the modern impression of the First World War: splintered trees, water-filled craters, muddy shell-holes. The climax was one of the worst battles of both world wars: Passchendaele. The village fell eventually, only for the whole offensive to be called off. But, as Nick Lloyd shows, notably through previously unexamined German documents, it put the Allies nearer to a major turning point in the war than we have ever imagined.

A New History

Describes the difficult and bloody four-month battle that tipped the stalemate on the Western Front in favor of the Allies in 1918 and drove back the Germans, bringing World War I to an end.

The Campaign That Ended World War I

Nick Lloyd's Hundred Days: The End of the Great War explores the brutal, heroic and extraordinary final days of the First World War. On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day in November 1918, the guns of the Western Front fell silent. The Armistice, which brought the Great War to an end, marked a seminal moment in modern European and World history. Yet the story of how the war ended remains little-known. In this compelling and ground-breaking new study, Nick Lloyd examines the last days of the war and asks the question: how did it end? Beginning at the heralded turning-point on the Marne in July 1918, Hundred Days traces the epic story of the next four months, which included some of the bloodiest battles of the war. Using unpublished archive material from five countries, this new account reveals how the Allies - British, French, American and Commonwealth - managed to beat the German Army, by now crippled by indiscipline and ravaged by influenza, and force her leaders to seek peace. 'This is a powerful and moving book by a rising military historian. Lloyd's depiction of the great battles of July-November provides compelling evidence of the scale of the Allies' victories and the bitter reality of German defeat' Gary Sheffield (Professor of War Studies) 'Lloyd enters the upper tier of Great War historians with this admirable account of the war's final campaign' Publishers Weekly Nick Lloyd is Senior Lecturer in Defence Studies at King's College London, based at the Joint Services Command & Staff College in Shrivenham, Oxfordshire. He specialises in British military and imperial history in the era of the Great War and is the author of two books, Loos 1915 (2006), and The Amritsar Massacre: The Untold Story of One Fateful Day (2011).

In de annalen van de militaire geschiedenis geldt het westelijk front als een symbool van de dwaasheid en zinloosheid van oorlog. Nick Lloyd laat in Het westelijk front echter zien dat dit geen verhaal is van nutteloosheid en stompzinnigheid, van onnadenkende generaals. Het is juist een epische triomf tegen alle verwachtingen in. Aan de hand van een toneel met honderden spelers en talloze plaatsen en gebeurtenissen onthult Lloyd het hele verhaal. Hij geeft de gebeurtenissen in Frankrijk en België tussen augustus 1914 en november 1918 weer vanuit het gezichtspunt van alle belangrijke combattanten, waaronder Franse, Britse, Belgische, Amerikaanse en - niet in de laatste plaats - Duitse strijdkrachten. Lloyd put uit de meest recente onderzoeken naar de oorlog en ten onrechte vergeten persoonlijke verslagen en archiefmateriaal, die hij uit alle hoeken belicht. Op deze wijze onderzoekt hij de meest beslissende campagnes van de Grote Oorlog en prestaties die te lang overschaduwd werden door verhalen over modder, bloed en futiliteit. Het westelijk front was absoluut geen arena voor een statische, machinale uitputtingsoorlog, maar - ondanks onderweg gemaakte fouten en verkeerde beslissingen - een 'oorlog als een heksenketel' met ongekende innovaties, aanpassingen en tactische ontwikkelingen. Lloyd maakt invoelbaar hoe het op het slagveld is tijdens een aanval, vakkundig in- en uitzoomend, waarmee hij zowel het grote verhaal als het treffende detail in beeld brengt. Hij volgt de besluitvorming en de gebeurtenissen in de oorlog op de voet, vanuit de tijd zelf maar ook achteraf bezien. Zo geeft hij ons nieuw inzicht in dit cruciale theater in deze monumentale tragedie.

Nick Lloyd

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