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Description
An in-depth, authoritative account of the autumn of 1914 on the Western Front and the First Battle of Ypres, a true turning point in modern warfare.
The final months of 1914 were the bloodiest interval in a famously bloody war, a killing season. They ended with the First Battle of Ypres, a struggle in West Flanders, Belgium, the importance of which has been too long over-looked – until now.
Robert Cowley's account of this crucial period describes how German armies in France were poised to sweep north to capture the Channel ports and knock England out of the war – and were only held back by a brilliant improvisation from a cobbled-together handful of desperate British, French and Belgium troops.
In a re-examination of events that have too long seemed set in stone, Cowley combines a wide array of source materials with sharp portrayals both of military leaders and the men they lead. We follow Albert of Belgium, the world's last warrior king; French General Ferdinand Foch, a former professor of military science; and Hendrik Geeraert, an alcoholic barge keeper, who pulled off Albert's literal last-ditch effort. Many other memorable characters emerge, including Sir John French along with both a young Adolf Hitler and Winston Churchill.
The vast brawl of four armies in Flanders was a turning point that irrevocably changed the nature of modern warfare. In this visceral account, based on 30 years of research and picking up where Barbara Tuchman's The Guns of August left off, Cowley details the crucial decisions that determined the outcome of the Great War – which may have been decided by a single, extraordinary afternoon.
Table of Contents
Map: The Battle for Ypres
Introduction
I: The Shadow of Schlieffen
Prologue: August 20, 1914, Near Charleroi, Belgium
1. “The Virtuosity of Sheer Audacity”
2. The Man Who Willed a War
II: The Flanders of Convergence
3. "The Strength of Despair"
4. The Antwerp Diversion
5. Testimony of the Spade
6. Race to the Sea
7. Accidental Tourists
8. October Surprise
III: Arc of Flame
9. The Salient
10. Shoulder to Shoulder
11. Singers in the Mist
12. The River Redoubt
13. The Great Fear
14. “Hanging on by Our Eyelids”
15. One Day
IV: Ne Plus Ultra
16. The Bargeman's Solution
17. Dead Sea
18. The Gap
19. “Fancy Meeting You Here”
20. The Kaiser's Battle
21. The Invention of No-Man's Land
Epilogue: November 17-18, 1914, Klein-Zillebeke, Belgium
Acknowledgments
Notes
Index
Product details
| Published | 06 Jan 2026 |
|---|---|
| Format | Hardback |
| Edition | 1st |
| Extent | 480 |
| ISBN | 9781472874320 |
| Imprint | Osprey Publishing |
| Illustrations | 8-page plate section in black and white |
| Dimensions | 234 x 153 mm |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
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