About the Author

Paddy Griffith is the author of numerous other books on military subjects, including Battle Tactics of the Civil War. Formerly a senior lecturer in war studies at the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, England, he is now a freelance author and publisher.

Reviews

Griffith's book represents a major departure from the standard interpretation of British participation in World War I as being a litany of tragic mistakes with multitudes of innocent soldiers led by incompetent generals to their slaughter. With deliberate steps the author (Forward into Battle, Presidio, 1992) studies the evolution of British infantry tactics from the slipshod techniques of the first half of the war to the tactically sound sustained offensive during the latter half. Using the Somme campaign of 1916 as a starting point, Griffith illustrates the effect new technology had on tactical thinking and the resulting new techniques of ground assault. He argues that many battles were carefully planned out using these techniques and technologies but that a breakout from trench warfare was not possible under the conditions of the time period. For specialized collections.-David Lee Poremba, Detroit P.L.