THE SWORDBEARERS: Supreme Command in the First World War

by Correlli Barnett ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 13, 1964

Contrary to Tolstoy's thesis that battles shape themselves despite the efforts of leaders, Barnett takes as his theme that individual human character has a decisive effect upon events. He illustrates his position by thoroughly rehearsing the activities of four leaders: Germany's Chief of the General Staff Colonel-General von Moltke and Commander-in-Chief of the Field Army General Erich Ludendorff; Britain's Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Fleet Admiral Sir John Jellicoe; and France's Commander-in-Chief of the Army General Henri Petain. Each was a mirror of his nation's virtues and defects and each certainly affected history during WWI if any man did. They were all conservatives, in a conservative profession, and at one point or another during the war each can became the one pivot of success or tragedy. General von Moltke failed to wield Germany's sword in a single killing stroke during the war's first six weeks when instant victory was all too graspable. In much the same way, General Ludendorff's final titanic effensive in 1918 evaporated disastrously. Admiral Jellicoe fought the German High Sea Fleet to stalemate at Jutland, when victory would have given the Allies a flank on Germany's impregnable front. General Petain's problem was political: to hold his army together until the Americans arrived. Barnett's four portraits have both satisfying depth and forward-driving complexity, while the events he discusses continue into today's news.

Pub Date: May 13, 1964

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Morrow

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1964

Categories: NONFICTION