Fighting The Somme German Challenges Dilemmas Solutions Jack Sheldon by Jack Sheldon 9781473881990, 1473881994 instant download after payment.

It will not be a rehashed narrative history of the battle. 

Instead, drawing heavily on examples that can be illustrated through exploitation of the primary sources still available in abundance in the archives at Stuttgart and Munich and anecdotal accounts, it will explain how and why the German defence was designed and conducted as it was. There will be descriptions of the reasons for the dominance of the German General Staff, the tensions between commanders and staff, the disagreements between the commanders of First and Second Army and the replacement of General von Falkenhayn with the duumvirate of Hindenburg and Ludendorff.

Specific case studies will include the loss and recapture of the Schwaben Redoubt on 1 July, the British and Commonwealth forces assault on the Second Position of 14 July, the tank attack at Flers 15 September and the autumn battles for Sailly Saissisel and St Pierre Vaast Wood.

This will ensure that there is plenty to interest the general reader as well as showing how the various levels of command from regiment to army group operated and responded to emergencies and crises. Space will be devoted to changes in command philosophy, the introduction of new weapons and equipment and the evolution of tactics to counter the massive Allied superiority in manpower and materiel.

Jack Sheldon is now firmly established as the leading authority on the German Army in the First World War. A retired soldier he lives in France and is fully engaged in researching and writing on his chosen subject. His German Army on the Somme was a run-away success and he has built on his reputation with The German Army At Passchendael, The German Army at Cambrai, The German Army on Vimy Ridge and The German Army at Ypres 1914.