tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3279786472578722137.post2263770031885519675..comments2024-03-15T02:55:43.872+00:00Comments on Roundwood's World: The Verdun Project: "Verdun 1916" by Malcolm Brown (1999)Sidney Roundwoodhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03440705981976797774noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3279786472578722137.post-18482909515285146912013-01-23T11:31:25.990+00:002013-01-23T11:31:25.990+00:00Super comment, thanks Ben! And thanks very much f...Super comment, thanks Ben! And thanks very much for the excellent link to the Chapman Journal article. As for the other books - are you psychic, Sir????<br /><br />Robert Doughty's "Phyrric Victory" and Michel Goya's "La chair et l'acier: l'armée française et l'invention de la guerre moderne (1914-1918)" are two of the books I'll be reviewing here in February. Both are excellent at what they set out to do, especially Michel Goya's.Sidney Roundwoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14795563060856586670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3279786472578722137.post-32945696194020610772013-01-23T11:27:23.277+00:002013-01-23T11:27:23.277+00:00Thanks Curt. It is definitely a "library boo...Thanks Curt. It is definitely a "library book" in that there's possibly not enough in wargaming terms for most people to justify the cover price. However, if its on the local library shelf I'd certainly recommend giving a read. And as you say, Horne is a very difficult act to follow!Sidney Roundwoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14795563060856586670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3279786472578722137.post-72573745687434600842013-01-23T11:25:37.038+00:002013-01-23T11:25:37.038+00:00Thanks Nate! I very much agree. After Verdun and...Thanks Nate! I very much agree. After Verdun and the Somme, the realistic chances of a German victory looked far slimmer.Sidney Roundwoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14795563060856586670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3279786472578722137.post-77285911144785772382013-01-23T11:24:10.804+00:002013-01-23T11:24:10.804+00:00Thanks Ray!Thanks Ray!Sidney Roundwoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14795563060856586670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3279786472578722137.post-60190568249403649472013-01-23T11:24:02.600+00:002013-01-23T11:24:02.600+00:00Thanks Mike for the great comment.
Sir Alastair H...Thanks Mike for the great comment.<br /><br />Sir Alastair Horne's "The Price of Glory" is the next book review I'll be doing. I'm guessing a lot of people may have read it, but for those who haven't…..hopefully I can change that. Malcolm Brown does make a comparison in his book between Verdun and Stalingrad, not least prompted by Hitler's comparison of the two battles in November 1942. The main contrast which Brown draws is between the savage intensity of the "Rattenkrieg" at Stalingrad and what he terms the "terrifying loneliness" of battle experience at Verdun for the bulk of soldiers being flayed by the constant artillery exchanges.<br /><br />As for similarities between Verdun and Passchendaele, I think there are quite a few. From a historiographical perspective, the fighting at Passchendaele has been subject to quite a lot of revisionist interpretations. I'm not sure the same is true of Verdun to the same extent (and certainly not in the English language). Both battles are complex and technically intricate - far more so than I ever thought when I started reading about them. Both battles become "soldier's battles" (Passchendaele through the weather and Verdun through the French tenacity to hold on at all costs), with all the intensity and desperation which that term suggests. I think there's huge potential in both battles for wargaming, with both battles offering the opportunity through gaming of attempting to gain a deeper insight of just how horrifying both battles must have been for the participants.<br />Sidney Roundwoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14795563060856586670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3279786472578722137.post-74109418441600354862013-01-23T11:12:43.340+00:002013-01-23T11:12:43.340+00:00Thanks Benito. More to come in the next few days!...Thanks Benito. More to come in the next few days!Sidney Roundwoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14795563060856586670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3279786472578722137.post-41343526609377280702013-01-23T11:11:58.650+00:002013-01-23T11:11:58.650+00:00Thanks Chris, much appreciated!Thanks Chris, much appreciated!Sidney Roundwoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14795563060856586670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3279786472578722137.post-20544323372874910232013-01-23T11:11:47.236+00:002013-01-23T11:11:47.236+00:00Thanks Fran, glad you liked it!Thanks Fran, glad you liked it!Sidney Roundwoodhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14795563060856586670noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3279786472578722137.post-38648327437653692412013-01-23T02:09:08.226+00:002013-01-23T02:09:08.226+00:00Excellent! Thanks for those leads, Ben. That Chapm...Excellent! Thanks for those leads, Ben. That Chapman journal piece looks very good (great coffeebreak reading for us history nerds).Curthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03202047917371080576noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3279786472578722137.post-90753298322759873532013-01-22T23:52:28.710+00:002013-01-22T23:52:28.710+00:00Great review mate, sounds very intriguing. Regardi...Great review mate, sounds very intriguing. Regarding tactical developments at Verdun, have you had a look at some of the academic journals? I found this essay to be fairly decent (http://journals.chapman.edu/ojs/index.php/VocesNovae/article/view/334). I've had a brief look on JSTOR and there seems to be a few <br />Also, if you've got any French, and if you can get your hands on it, Michel Goya's 2004 'La chair et l'acier: l'armée française et l'invention de la guerre moderne (1914-1918)' covers the tactical developments of the French throughout the war - although i've not read the work in its entirety, the parts i've browsed - primarily about 1914 - do seem rather excellent. Also, Doughty's Phyrric Victory is rather good, if almost exclusively higher level in its focus. <br />Anyway, i'm really enjoying the reviews, and have been inspired to get out a few Scarab poilus. Now, if i can just find my horizon blue recipe...<br />BenBen Fiene (Ansbachdragoner)https://www.blogger.com/profile/07179069100382179511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3279786472578722137.post-89747215906063143242013-01-22T23:21:30.853+00:002013-01-22T23:21:30.853+00:00A very thoughtful and well laid out review, Sidney...A very thoughtful and well laid out review, Sidney. Horne, like Tuchman, is a very hard act to follow and it seems the period's canon (like most others) is choked with historians who claim that they offer critical new insight but all too frequently fail to come up with the goods, or simply don't possess the technical 'chops' to convey their arguments effectively. Nonetheless, based on your assessment, I think I'll try to order this in through the library and give it a whirl. Curthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03202047917371080576noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3279786472578722137.post-24855065181635765592013-01-22T18:36:21.278+00:002013-01-22T18:36:21.278+00:00Thanks for the review, Sidney.I agree with your co...Thanks for the review, Sidney.I agree with your comment that Verdun was more than just sacrifice. Between it and the Somme lay the seeds of Germany's eventual defeat.Natholeonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14359406949497306737noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3279786472578722137.post-52769883418788843342013-01-22T17:03:40.847+00:002013-01-22T17:03:40.847+00:00A great review, sounds very interesting.A great review, sounds very interesting.Ray Rousellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07352596392520905197noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3279786472578722137.post-15798886488699240112013-01-22T16:46:43.895+00:002013-01-22T16:46:43.895+00:00Thank you for this, Sidney. I have only dim memo...Thank you for this, Sidney. I have only dim memories of reading Horne's book on Verdun, but the subject for me is always associated with deep horror and sadness, one of those terrible battles, like Stalingrad, that took on a sinister life of its own. Between Brown and Ousby, Brown's probably sounds like a good book for me. I am curious what similarities you see, as a gamer and amateur historian, between Passchendaele and VerdunMad Padrehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00410143683610813671noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3279786472578722137.post-82542542916709412882013-01-22T15:10:22.851+00:002013-01-22T15:10:22.851+00:00Another great review, excellent read while I sip m...Another great review, excellent read while I sip my after-lunch expressoAnibal Invictushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00574972963418062956noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3279786472578722137.post-18119153054417507872013-01-22T14:34:49.433+00:002013-01-22T14:34:49.433+00:00Great review. I am looking forward to your Verdun...Great review. I am looking forward to your Verdun project. Chris Stoesenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07285495844651490795noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3279786472578722137.post-55146290450571626792013-01-22T14:18:09.696+00:002013-01-22T14:18:09.696+00:00Nicely explained and reviewed Sidney.Nicely explained and reviewed Sidney.The Angry Lurkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01227314379603418332noreply@blogger.com