Passchendaele

Passchendaele

A New History

Summary

'A timely re-appraisal . . . a masterpiece' General Lord Richard Dannatt

'Sweeps aside mythology and provides a rational explanation and cool description of what took place' Max Hastings, Sunday Times
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Between July and November 1917, in a small corner of Belgium, more than 500,000 men were killed or maimed, gassed or drowned - and many of the bodies were never found. The Ypres offensive represents the modern impression of the First World War: splintered trees, water-filled craters, muddy shell-holes.

The climax was one of the worst battles of both world wars: Passchendaele. The village fell eventually, only for the whole offensive to be called off. But, as Nick Lloyd shows, notably through previously unexamined German documents, it put the Allies nearer to a major turning point in the war than we have ever imagined.
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'Meticulously researched . . . A harrowing and important history' PD Smith, Guardian

'He brings the battle and its political context vividly to life . . . a model of what a work of military history should be, this is now perhaps the definitive account of this phase of the war on the Western Front' Simon Heffer, Telegraph

Reviews

  • A timely re-appraisal . . . a masterpiece
    General Lord Richard Dannatt

About the author

Nick Lloyd

Nick Lloyd is Professor of Modern Warfare at King's College London, based at the Defence Academy UK in Shrivenham, Wiltshire. He is the author of four previous books, including Passchendaele: A New History, which was a Sunday Times top ten bestseller. He lives with his family in Cheltenham.
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