Rod Paschall (1935–2020)

The Defeat of Imperial Germany, 1917-1918 by Rod Paschall is the first volume in the Major Battles and Campaigns series under the general editorship of John S. D. Eisenhower. Designed for the "armchair strategist," this book offers striking proof of the inaccuracy of the conventional depiction of the trench warfare of the First World War, in which commanding generals are seen as mediocre and unimaginative, having stubbornly sent hundreds of thousands of troops over the top to be mowed down by the lethal weaponry of modern war. Paschall builds a compelling case that the generals on both sides invented ingenious new strategies that simply failed in the context of a war of attrition. In a series of vivid analyses of successive offenses, Paschall describes the generals' plans, how their ...… (more)

2376 The Defeat of Imperial Germany 1917-1918, by Rod Paschall (read 6 Apr 1991) I have read a lot of books about World War One and some are not really worthwhile but this work by the director of the U.S. Army Military History Institute is an exceptionally great and absorbing book. Maybe it over-emphasizes America's role--though not seriously--but it is enjoyable to read about American contribution, a subject never emphasized by British writers. It is a little appalling to realize that Americans fought with as little regard for life as was earlier displayed by other Allied generals. But this is a superb book, spending most of its time on the overall picture and not, as so many books I've read, dwelling on the individual story. I was instructed on a number of things I did not know--e.g.,how great a role George C. Marshall played as a colonel in France, and this is the first time in a long time I've read much about what the USA did in the war. St. Mihiel, Argonne Forest, and the Meuse were just names to me till I read this workmanlike account of them. A great, great book.… (more)