The Military History of World War I, Volume 3: Stalemate in the Trenches November 1914-March 1918

by Trevor N. Dupuy

By December 1914, two continuous and roughly parallel lines of fortifications faced each other in Western Europe -- zigzagging from the North Sea to as far south a Switzerland. During the next four deadly and heartrending years, these lines on both sides -- German and Allied -- would be steadily improved and strengtheded. Thus was inevitably crystallized the mud-soaked and pitiful horror of trench warfare as it was to be waged on the Western Front from 1914 to 1918.In Volume 3 of The Military History of World War I, the author tells of the anguish and suffering that persisted in the stalemante in the trenchs during those years; the inhuman suffering of the troops in that lice - and rat - infested environment; the hopelessness and discouragement of both sides of No-Man's-Land in a brutal war which seemed, to those filth-encrusted soldiers engaged in it, to have no end. Relived for the reader are the courageous, yet often bungled developments on the "Bloody Somme" Offensive, Vimy Ridge, Ypres, and the unspeakable ghastliness of Verdun and the "Sacred Road," and the tragic sacrifices at "Passiondale" ridge.

96 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1967

About the author

Trevor Nevitt Dupuy attended West Point, graduating in the class of 1938. During World War II he commanded a U.S. Army artillery battalion, a Chinese artillery group, and an artillery detachment from the British 36th Infantry Division. He was always proud of the fact that he had more combat time in Burma than any other American, and received decorations for service or valour from the U.S., British, and Chinese governments. After the war Dupuy served in the United States Department of Defense Operations Division[1] from 1945 to 1947, and as military assistant to the Under Secretary of the Army from 1947 to 1948. He was a member of the original Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) staff in Paris under Generals Dwight D. Eisenhower and Matthew Ridgway from 1950 to 1952.

It is as a military historian and a theorist that Trevor Dupuy would make a lasting mark on the world. He is perhaps best known for his massive book The Encyclopedia Of Military History (co-written, like many of his books, with his father R. Ernest Dupuy). Starting from the beginning of history and going up the present day the book tries to cover all the major (and minor) military conflicts in world history. Usually each entry (arranged chronologically and by region) gives little more than the names of the commanders and (often) very rough estimates for the size of the forces involved in the campaigns. Dupuy was not afraid of expressing an opinion and he classified some of his subjects as Great Captains (such as Alexander the Great, Hannibal, Julius Caesar, Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, Frederick II of Prussia and Napoleon). Like most Western reference works it spends far more time dealing with wars in Europe and the United States than the rest of the world, but it does at least try to cover the entire world. The Encyclopedia Of Military History has been revised (and updated) several times, most recently in 1993. It can be found in the reference section of most American libraries.

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is Volume 3 of a 12-volume history of World War I. As such it begins and ends rather abruptly, as it assumes the reader has the other volumes available. This aside, it was a very engaging 106-page overview of the trench warfare on the western front from late 1914 to early 1918. It gave me a better understanding of how the advent of trench warfare led to an impasse in Western Europe and how the two sides tried--mostly ineffectually--to break the stalemate, at a horrific cost in lives. It put a more personal face on the people that were involved in that mess than I have gotten from other historical accounts.

Disclaimer: my aunt is one of the co-authors.