Douglas Haig: From the Somme to Victory

by Gary Sheffield, Saul David (Foreword by)

Overview

'Well written and persuasive ...objective and well-rounded....this scholarly rehabilitation should be the standard biography' - Andrew Roberts, Mail on Sunday

'A true judgment of him must lie somewhere between hero and zero, and in this detailed biography Gary Sheffield shows himself well qualified to make it ... a balanced portrait' - The Sunday Times

'Solid scholarship and admirable advocacy' - Sunday Telegraph

Douglas Haig is the single most controversial general in British history. In 1918, after his armies had won the First World War, he was feted as a saviour. But within twenty years his reputation was in ruins, and it has never recovered.

Drawing on previously unknown private papers and new scholarship unavailable when The Chief was first published, eminent First World War historian Gary Sheffield reassesses Haig's reputation, assessing his critical role in preparing the army for war.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781781316177
Publisher:	Aurum Press
Publication date:	05/19/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	480
File size:	12 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

One of Britain's leading military historians, GARY SHEFFIELD is Professor of War Studies at the University of Wolverhampton. He has written a number of critically acclaimed and commercially successful books on the First World War including Forgotten Victory: The First World War – Myths and Realities. He is the co-editor of Douglas Haig: War Diaries and Letters 1914-18.

 

One of Britain's leading military historians, Gary Sheffield is Professor of War Studies at the University of Birmingham. He has written a number of critically acclaimed books on the First World War, including Forgotten Victory: The First World War - Myths and Realities. He is the co-editor of Douglas Haig: War Diaries and Letters 1914-1918. A fellow of the Royal Historical Society, he is also Vice-President of the Western Front Association.

Table of Contents

Foreword Saul David viii

Preface x

Acknowledgements xii

Abbreviations xvii

Maps: The River War: Egypt and the Sudan, 1898 xx

South Africa: Theatre of Operations, 1899-1902 xxi

The Western Front, 1914-1918 xxii

Introduction: Douglas Haig: Incompetent General or National Hero? 1

1 Apprenticeship 10

2 Rising Star 39

3 Corps Commander 71

4 Grappling with Trench Warfare 105

5 Commander-in-Chief 139

6 Attrition 176

7 New Battles 205

8 False Dawns 229

9 Backs to the Wall 265

10 Victory 300

11 Veterans' Champion - and Potential Dictator? 347

12 Haig the Soldier: An Assessment 375

Sources and Select Bibliography 390

Notes 420

Index 465

Editorial Reviews

‘Gary Sheffield provides the most even-handed and insightful assessment [of Haig] yet in Douglas Haig, a revised edition of his excellent 2011 biography’—Saul David, Daily Telegraph

‘shedding new light on the man, the Somme and the First World War’—Press Association

From the Publisher