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Article: The First World War / The Great War Generals on the Western Front 1914-18
- Article from:
- RUSI Journal
- Article date:
- February 1, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright Royal United Services Institute for Defence Studies Feb/Mar 1999. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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For once, the publisher's blurb is accurate: any new book by John Keegan, one of Britain's most influential and widely-read military historians, is a major event. We have come to expect path-breaking, iconoclastic works from Mr Keegan's pen; witness his assault on traditional military history, in The Face of Battle and his attack on Clausewitz in A History of Warfare. It is therefore something of a surprise to find him restating a very traditional view in The First World War.
This review will dwell upon two aspects with which I happen to disagree. This should not be allowed to obscure the strengths of this book. He does not fall into the trap of seeing the war as a local dispute between ...