Bruce I. Gudmundsson

A true classic and a useful antidote to the popular view that the German army was all about blind obedience and strict organisation. Instead it was a remarkably decentralised institution that placed great trust in the judgement of the men on the spot. It is a thorough examination of how the German army tackled the novel problems of trench warfare, and eventually overcame them.

One point of criticism: the author tends to overstate his case of the smart Germans vs the hidebound Allies. The show more Western allies were evolving along the same lines, only the Germans got there first. show less

Very interesting book about the evolution of modern infantry combat during WW1. Author shows how use of assault squads for probing and penetrating enemy lines was not something that was developed only in specialized Rohr Batallion or under Hutier's patronage.

As author clearly shows concepts of fast hitting specialized infantry squads was something that would eventually develop on the German side even without dedicated specialized and experimental units (which is proved by evolution of Jaeger show more and specific infantry regiments and divisions that did not have much contact with Rohr Batallion).

Using examples from Western and Eastern front author paints a very vivid picture of transformation of tightly boxed infantry with repeating rifles advancing and firing in columns, into squads armed with automatic weapons, machine guns, hand grenades and flamethrowers, and exceptional development of artillery and its use - which will culminate in one way with introduction of new battle machine, tank, machine that will define and play a very important role in next war.

Again it is visible that none of the above would be possible with small armies - by relying on small armies none of the warring parties would be able to develop in any meaningful way. This dream that persists 'til current days grew from nauseating feeling of mass slaughter in WW1 but proved faulty in both WW2 and in any real (non-counter-insurgency) conflict, from Africa to Asia and Europe.

Book is full of information and is a slight counterbalance to "Command or Control". It does not take much of a critical view of UK troops training and management and is more oriented towards going over every historical point related to Stormtrooper development. it is not as detailed account as "Command or Control" but again accent here is on development of land combat, specific to infantry, and not in going into detail into the nature of command and training of Germany and Allied troops or development of other arms.

Recommended. show less

Like the author's survey of Artillery (On Artillery), this is a short, concise and yet informative text. The subject is the evolution of German Infantry tactics during WWI (1914-1918). After the trench stalemate had been reached, the Germans looked for some innovative ways to resume mobile warfare. Gudmundsson successful puts the reader in the mindset of young German officers in 1915. We know that trench warfare had 3 more years to run it's course, but at the time, it was seen as a temporary show more thing. The book covers events leading up to WWI that cause turmoil in the German High Command regarding the use of infantry, and how scrutiny of specific tactical employments in various battles in the early to mid stages of the war led to the first experimental stormtroop unit. The book goes on to document the unit's successes and the eventual adoption of special stormtroop units to spearhead attacks at the division level, and finally how complete divisions were organized in the stormtroop fashion. All the major personalities, weaponry, and tactics involved are described in detail, and while dramatic descriptions of the gory and macabre business of trench warfare are omitted, one can easily infer from the descriptions of sharpened entrenching tools and flame throwers how violent and terrible it was to be on the receiving end of one of those attacks. Author Gudmundsson's work interjects some objective scholarship on this subject in an age where it is not politically correct to acknowledge the German military's pioneering efforts in both world wars in establishing modern combined arms tactics. show less

As usual with Osprey books this one is a nice intro to the makeup of the British forces in 1914-15, I have not read any of the other Battle Order series so i have nothing to compare it to in its own series but i would say it is on par with their Essential Histories series. However I do feel that the book could have used some better editing as a lot of information was repeated multiple times, I think i read about premature barrel wear of the 4.7in Heavy Gun in 3-4 times throughout the book in show more almost the exact same sentence structure. I also have to wonder why they decided to have some unit breakdown charts in color and some in black and white. Adding color to the charts realy doesn't add anything to them and it seem that they were done at random. Another problem with the book is that i wish they would have spent more time talking about the equipment of the army as they only gloss over it in 5 pages towards the end. The majority of the book is dedicated to the entire breakdown of the army ranging from the infantry, cavalry and artillery of both the main army and the territorial forces, which if you are interested in that this is where the meat of this book lies. Overall it’s not bad if you need a reference for the British army of 1914 but for information on the tactics and weapons it is somewhat lacking. show less