This book will be the first complete account of the operations of the
German army in the battles north of Lille in the late autumn of 1914. The main
emphasis will be placed on the battles around Ypres against the Old Contemptibles of the BEF, but the
fighting against the French and Belgian armies will also be featured, thus
providing fresh, broader, insights into a campaign. There are those who consider
that the BEF was all that saved world civilisation as the first year of the
Great War drew to its end.
The book uses the comprehensive histories of the participating German
regiments found in the Kriegsarchiv in Munich and
the Hauptstaatsarchiv in Stuttgart. Their use adds authority and
authenticity to the book.
The narrative adopts a chronological approach. The book focuses on
some of the most bitterly disputed battles of the first three months of the war,
when the Germans strained to achieve a breakthrough and the BEF resisted
heroically, at the price of its own destruction.
The book employs a similar format to the author’s previous works;
that is to say the greater part of the text uses the words of the German
participants themselves and the primary focus of the book covers the experiences
of the fighting troops at regimental level and below. Linking paragraphs provide
historical context and commentary and evidence from senior commanders will be
introduced as necessary.
