I can,t agree with the review by rachelrichardson.First of all I think it is ridiculous and unfair to complain that a book about a war overemphasizes the military apect of that particular conflict.That's what war is 'all' about.The author is a military historian and therefore his emphasis will lie on the military apects. Secondly rachel complains that there is next to nothing in the book about the role of women during this conflict.Now women did'nt fight in any substantial numbers during the WW1 and therefore in a military history there is not much to tell about them.Of course you can write about the subject from another angle.WW1 was very important in the history of womenslib.Most men were at the front so women had to manage by themselves.As a military history of WW1 this book is very good.It explains better than any other book why it took so long to break the stalemate on the Western Front.Most of all it were military technologies that canceled each other out so no combatant could get a definitive superiority.All the war's fronts get their due but the battles where the British fought get special attention.This book's minor drawbacks are indeed as rachel writes a perspective that is to much Allied centred and the author seems to run out of steam as the end of the conflict is in sight.