Book description
FINANCIAL TIMES HISTORY BOOK OF THE YEAR and DAILY TELEGRAPH BOOKS
OF THE YEAR
Shortlisted for the 2012 DUKE OF WESTMINSTER MEDAL FOR MILITARY LITERATURE
At the end of 1917 Britain and France faced a strategic
nightmare. Their great offensives against Germany had been calamitous,
leaving hundreds of thousands of young men dead and wounded for
negligible territorial gains. Despite America's entry into the war the
US army remained tiny, the Italian army had been routed, and Russia
had dropped out of the conflict. The Central Powers now dominated
Central and Eastern Europe, and Germany could move over forty
divisions to the Western Front. Yet only one year later, on 11
November 1918, the fighting ended in a decisive Allied victory.
Stevenson's rich and compelling book retells the story of 1918, and
with penetrating original research goes to the very roots of this
instrumental turning point in modern history.
David Stevenson is a Professor of International History at the
London School of Economics and Political Science, and author of the
highly praised 1914-1918: The History of the First World War:
'Momentous... this history of the conflict surpasses all others',
Independent; 'Superb', Ian Kershaw; 'David Stevenson is the
real deal', Niall Ferguson; 'The best comprehensive one-volume history
of the war yet written', New Yorker
