The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916 (Penguin History)

Rating:
Summary: A fantastic piece of work - gripping throughout
Review: Until I read this book, I never really appreciated the French involvement in WWI and the absolute sacrifices the country made - that were a major contributing factor to their fall against the Nazis in 1940. Furthermore, the complete waste and destruction of manpower by machine draws you into this account and makes you appreciate something like this should never happen again. The main characters are portreyed by Horne in Joffre the French commander, Falkenhayn, Knobelsdorf, The Crown prince, Petain and even Haig. Reading, it sounds like a comedy of errors an obsession and a complete disregard for human life and sacrifice. The futile waste, the heroism and the sheer destruction are versed from the point of view of the everyday soldier and you feel for both sides of the conflict, sucked into a maelstrom, an inferno of hell. The author's research is stunning and even the account of the German capture of Fort Douaumont by Kunze and Radtke have drawn credit from Kunze himself years after the conflict.