by George H. Cassar
Washington: Potomac Books, 2004. Pp. xviii, 362.
Illus., maps, notes, biblio., index. $22.95 paper. ISBN:1574887092
In Kitchener's War, Prof. Cassar, who has written extensively on British leadership during the Great War (Kitchener: Architect of Victory, The Tragedy of Sir John French, etc.), takes a fresh look at the shaping of British strategy during the first two years of the struggle.
Cassar approaches the subject through the person of Lord Kitchener, who was instrumental in trying to shape a unified Allied strategy until his death in 1916. Kitchener probably had the clearest vision of anyone in the principal European armies, and realized early that it would be a long war. With a cast that includes many of the most notable politicians and generals of the twentieth century, the book helps throw new light on how Britain groped its way, with many set backs and diversions, toward the creation of a modern army and the formation of a winning strategy, and, though perhaps not stressed, laid the foundation for modern combined arms operations..
A useful book for anyone interested in World War I and the "military revolution" of the twentieth century.