The Last Battle: Endgame on the Western Front, 1918

Description

By August 1918, the outcome of the Great War was not in doubt: the Allies would win. But what was unclear was how this defeat would play out - would the Germans hold on, prolonging the fighting deep into 1919, with the loss of hundreds of thousands more young lives, or could the war be won in 1918? In The Last Battle, Peter Hart, author of Gallipoli and The Great War, and oral historian at the Imperial War Museum, brings to life the dramatic final weeks of the war, as men fought to secure victory, with survival seemingly only days, or hours away. Drawing on the experience of both generals and ordinary soldiers, and dwelling with equal weight on strategy, tactics and individual experience, this is a powerful and detailed account of history's greatest endgame.

Peter Hart is the oral historian at the Imperial War Museum and has written several titles on the First World War. His latest books for Profile are Gallipoli, The Great War and Voices from the Front. Find him on Twitter @PeterHart1915

This superbly written history demonstrates conclusively the skill and professionalism of the British Army in 1918. -- Simon Shaw * Mail on Sunday * A superb account of the tactics that finally brought victory on the Western Front. The Last Battle pays just tribute to the allied military achievement of 1918, too often forgotten in our preoccupation with earlier horrors. -- Max Hastings * The Times * Thought provoking, erudite, yet eminently readable and entertaining: Peter Hart is a historian and author at the peak of his powers -- Richard van Emden A fantastic book...If you're going to read one book on 1918 for this centenary, there's no doubt that Peter's book is it. -- Paul Reed * World at War * A thoroughly readable, yet authoritative, account of one of the most dramatic periods of 20th Century history, one which deserves to be far better known. It deserves a place on the bookshelf of every serious student of the Great War and I cannot recommend it too strongly. -- Jack Sheldon, author of The Germany Army on the Somme 1914-1916 Peter Hart has a happy knack of blending a high-level of abstraction (the politics, grand strategy and operational) with the personal and minute, and making it work for the reader... The narrative is highly educational and The Last Battle certainly makes for a good read. -- Chris Baker * The Long, Long Trail * Well written, with an exceptional collection of personal narratives, this book provides a fascinating look at the last four months of World War I. -- Jerry D. Lenaburg, Senior Military Analyst This is an excellent highly readable book that should appeal to all students of military history and a worthy addition to the author's previous titles. -- Stephen McGreal, Historian A consistent writer who has the skill of a fine storyteller...Hopefully we will see more from Peter in good time, and if you are wise enough to read The Last Battle, it should lead you to his earlier work. You will not be disappointed. -- Mark Barnes * War History Online * Arguably the most significant book produced in the centenary year of the Armistice and is a masterfully written and constructed work...a book which is not only more than praiseworthy but is one which will stand as the definitive work on perhaps the most important period of the entire war. -- Andy Saunders * Britain at War * A superb account of the tactics that won the First World War on the Western Front. * Sunday Times Culture * Peter Hart, in his commendable book...offers us a first-class analysis as to why the British Army succeeded operationally...One of the best books, among the very large number that the First World War centenary has produced, at describing how soldiers actually think and feel, written by a historian who has a rare intuition for his subject. -- Barney White-Spunner * Country Life * At last we have a book that really does these events justice...Hart skilfully navigates the reader through the rival national narratives that each claim credit as architects of the final victory...Hart has delivered a well balanced, enlightening history that enables the reader to make sense of an exciting but potentially confusing chapter of the war. -- Mike Peters * Soldier Magazine, Pick of the Month * Hart is an accomplished historian displaying a sound knowledge of the war, its challenges and difficulties, and the manner in which they were overcome. Like his other books, The Last Battle: Endgame on the Western Front,1918 embraces the human face of war within a largely operational narrative that is balanced and fair in its commentary, and gives credit where credit is due... Once picked up, it will be hard to put down. * Brigadier Chris Roberts * A superb account of the tactics that won the First World War on the Western Front. * Sunday Times *