Mud, Blood and Poppycock: Britain and the Great War (W&N Military)

by Gordon Corrigan (Author)

• Used

  Illustrated
  2004

  $3.28

  The true story of how Britain won the First World War.

  The popular view of the First World War remains that of BLACKADDER: incompetent generals sending brave soldiers to their deaths. Alan Clark quoted a German general's remark that the British soldiers were 'lions led by donkeys'. But he made it up.

  Indeed, many established 'facts' about 1914-18 turn out to be myths woven in the 1960s by young historians on the make. Gordon Corrigan's brilliant, witty history reveals how out of touch we have become with the soldiers of 1914-18. They simply would not recognize the way their generation is depicted on TV or in Pat Barker's novels.

  Laced with dry humour, this will overturn everything you thought you knew about Britain and the First World War. Gordon Corrigan reveals how the British embraced technology, and developed the weapons and tactics to break through the enemy trenches.

• Used

  Hardcover
  2003

  $11.93

  The popular view of the First World War remains that of 'Blackadder': incompetent generals sending our soldiers to their deaths. Alan Clark quoted a German general's remark that the British soldiers were 'lions led by donkeys'. But he made it up. Indeed, many established 'facts' about 1914-18 turn out to be myths woven in the 1960s by young historians on the make. Gordon Corrigan's brilliant, witty new history reveals how out of touch we have become with the events of 1914-18. First, he shows how necessary our commitment was, contrary to Niall Ferguson's THE PITY OF WAR. He reveals that the British embraced technology more quickly and more effectively than the Germans, no more so than in our adoption of the tank. And his depiction of the army at war rests on his own life-long career as an infantry officer.