Verdun 1916: 'They shall not pass'

Osprey Campaign #93

by William Martin, Howard Gerrard (Illustrator)

Osprey's examination of the destructive events of a pivotal battle of World War I (1914-1918). On 21 February 1916 German General Erich von Falkenhayn unleashed his hammer-blow offensive against the French fortress city of Verdun. His aim was nothing short of the destruction of the French army. Falkenhayn was sure that the symbolic value of Verdun was such that the French would be ‘compelled to throw in every man they have.’ He was equally sure that ‘if they do so the forces of France will bleed to death’. The massed batteries of German guns would smash the French troops in their trenches and bunkers. But the French hung on with immense courage and determination and the battle became a bloody war of attrition.

Genres: History, World War I, Military History, Nonfiction

96 pages, Paperback

First published August 22, 2001

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Reviews

[Steven · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the bloodiest World War 1 battles. This is a classic example of mission creep. The Germans intended to bleed the French dry by capturing their fortress and inviting them to counterattack. However, they didn't manage to capture the fortress, and instead had to keep attacking in order to achieve this objective and as a result they were the ones suffering more casualty. The absurdity of the situation is reflected in the fact that the Germans captured a fortress that the French were intending to destroy prior to the battle, and as a result it was destroyed anyway. After the battle, the line didn't change much. Such a huge waste of manpower. Also, I didn't know that the Germans were actually quite close to breaking through, and if it weren't for the British-French attack at Somme, who knows what could happen.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been looking for a decent book (in English) on Verdun for a while and found this when browsing a second-hand bookshop. It has a lot of detail about the various battles and troop movements and the truly horrifying statistics on the loss of life incurred over the course of the campaign. There are a good amount of pictures to illustrate a "then and now" picture of the area.

There wasn't as much on the actual Forts themselves as I had hoped but there were some good diagrams, which were interesting.

[Bob Daugherty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very good overview of the battle. Weakness is its short length which makes the author have to summarize many of the events. Includes some less seen pic of the battle as well as some good current views of the battlefield and forts. Short of the maps are very useful to use while reading other Verdun books

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Concise and engaging, very recommendable for the reader wanting a brief overview before diving into more detail

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent introductory account of one of the grimmest episodes of the First World War.