Pierre Miquel (1) (1930–2007)

One of the better books of Pierre Miquel. It deals with the disastrous French offensive near Notre Dame de Lorette in May 1915. The author focuses especially on the fate of the colonial troops, who, contrary to all expectations, were the only ones to actually attain their objectives, and were then left in the lurch by the high command.

The most chilling element in the book is to see to what extent the French army of 1915 was unprepared for trench warfare. The only thing they had in abundance, show more was troops, so they threw these against the German defences in the hope that something would crack. It also shows the folly of mounting operations for reasons of politics and grand strategy, when an army is not equipped for the task in hand.

I don't know about the original edition, but the paperback version has no maps of any kind. This is quite impractical. show less

This was a picture and information type children's book. I saw it while browsing in my school's library. It was well done; I enjoyed looking at the pictures and reminding myself of some of the facts that I hadn't thought about in a long time.

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