AnyBook4Less.com	Find the Best Price on the Web Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Home  |  Store List  |  FAQ  |  Contact Us  |
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money Keyword AuthorISBN

Title: Mons 1914 by David Lomas, Ed Dovey ISBN: 1-84176-142-7 Publisher: Osprey Pub Co Pub. Date: July, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $18.95

Your Country USA Canada United Kingdom Australia Austria Belgium France Germany Italy Netherlands Switzerland Currency AutoUSD CAD GBP EUR AUD CHF Delivery Only cheapest delivery All delivery options Include Used Books Are you a club member of: Barnes and Noble Books A Million Chapters.Indigo.ca

Average Customer Rating: 4 (1 review)

Rating: 4
Summary: It Was a Delaying Action, Not a Victory
Comment: David Lomas covers the initial entry of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) into the First World War in Mons 1914. In the first major British ground action of the war, a British division-size force delayed the lead elements of four German divisions at Mons on 23 August 1914. However, the author's suggestion that Mons was a "tactical triumph" is at least irrelevant, if not absurd. While it is true that the British inflicted roughly 6-10,000 casualties upon the attacking Germans in return for 1,600 British lost, the fact is that the result of the battle was an immediate retreat by the BEF to avoid encirclement. Given that the Germans were conducting a meeting engagement after more than two weeks of advancing across Belgium it is not surprising that the BEF was able to slow them down (they did not stop them) for one day. How the loss of one day in the German schedule can be termed a "triumph" seems odd. Mons and the subsequent Le Cateau battle were delaying actions, not victories.

The section of Mons 1914 that covers opposing commanders is short, featuring only the high-level army and corps leaders for both sides. Similarly, the section on opposing armies is overly succinct, particularly in regards to the BEF. The painful lessons learned from the Boer War and the Haldane reforms of 1907 all had an influence on the army that fought at Mons, but they are neglected in this account. Also, the author should have made the effort to compare what kinds of infantry support weapons were available to British and German battalions in 1914. The campaign order of battle details units on each side down to regimental level and is quite good. The section on opposing plans fails is also too superficial, with the author failing to point out the logistical problems that undermined the efficacy of the German Schlieffen Plan. To believe in the "miracle of Mons" or such, one must believe that the German offensive was destined to succeed had not the BEF interposed itself between them and Paris.

The campaign summary itself covers the Battles of Mons and Le Cateau, as well as the Great Retreat, in the period 4 August - 1 September 1914. Excellent photos and battle scenes, as well as the typically good Osprey campaign maps complement the account.

This is a good summary of the opening phase of the war for the BEF, but readers should be careful of the author's overly pro-British bias at times. The British role during this period was strictly a delaying action and had the French not successfully shifted forces to the Marne River area, then the British would have been incapable of stopping the German advance by themselves. By focusing primarily on the BEF, this author tends to obscure the fact that it was the combination of both British delaying actions and agile French redeployments that eventually frustrated the Schlieffen Plan.