The British Army and the First World War

A comprehensive new history of the shaping and performance of the British army during the First World War.

Ian Beckett (Author), Timothy Bowman (Author), Mark Connelly (Author)

9780521183741, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 15 May 2017

482 pages, 10 b/w illus. 19 maps
22.8 x 15.2 x 2.5 cm, 0.7 kg

'… a very well written, measured account of high quality. At the price, the paperback is an essential purchase.' The Society of Friends of the National Army Museum Book Review Supplement

This is a major new history of the British army during the Great War written by three leading military historians. Ian Beckett, Timothy Bowman and Mark Connelly survey operations on the Western Front and throughout the rest of the world as well as the army's social history, pre-war and wartime planning and strategy, the maintenance of discipline and morale and the lasting legacy of the First World War on the army's development. They assess the strengths and weaknesses of the army between 1914 and 1918, engaging with key debates around the adequacy of British generalship and whether or not there was a significant 'learning curve' in terms of the development of operational art during the course of the war. Their findings show how, despite limitations of initiative and innovation amongst the high command, the British army did succeed in developing the effective combined arms warfare necessary for victory in 1918.

Introduction
1. The pre-war army
2. The Officer Corps
3. A nation in arms: regulars, TF, volunteers and conscripts
4. Citizen soldiers: discipline, morale and the experience of war
5. British strategy and the British army
6. The Western Front, 1914
7. The Western Front, 1915
8. The Western Front, 1916
9. The Western Front, 1917
10. The Western Front, 1918
11. Beyond the Western Front
Conclusion
Select bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: First World War [HBWN], 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], British & Irish history [HBJD1]