The Battle of France, 1940 (Cassell Military Paperbacks) [Paperback]

Philip Warner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 2001 | Series: Cassell Military Paperbacks

An important study of a significant campaign Both authoritative and highly readable

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Philip Warner served in the Far East and was a senior lecturer at the Royal Miltary Academy, Sandhurst. He is the author of many books, including biographies of Kitchener, Haig and Horrocks and histories of the First and Second World Wars.

Product Details

• Paperback: 275 pages
• Publisher: Cassell & Co, (2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0304356441
• ISBN-13: 978-0304356447
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 1.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,605,899 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Silly!, July 19, 2004

By 

Michael Licari (Cedar Falls, IA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Battle of France, 1940 (Cassell Military Paperbacks) (Paperback)

I thought this book was terrible. I never did figure out what Warner's intent was in writing this book. It's "The Battle of France" without the French, and yet it is not a book explicitly about the BEF either. If the book was actually about the BEF, then it would be very interesting. But to try to relate the history of the entire battle of France without more than passing references to French forces, command, politics, or inteligence/espionage (esp. prior to summer of 1940) is rediculous. To believe Warner, you'd think that it was the BEF that had the predominant number of troops and the French were just along for the ride.

This is a silly book. To believe Warner, the placement of the 10th Panzer division on the flank/reserve for a little while before driving to Calais and Dunkirk actually caused the eventual Allied victory in the war! Errors of fact abound (e.g. the Gross-Deutschland regiment is designated as an SS unit, or the assertion that German tanks were in large part superior to Allied tanks). Errors of interpretation abound as well: the contribution of the entire French Air force is dismissed in one sentence.

This is the worst book on a WWII subject I have read in a long time. Instead, read May's "Strange Victory" for a good look at military intelligence and strategy, Powaski's "Lightning War" for how that intelligence and strategy played out on the battlefield, and Jackson's "The Fall of France" for a good assessment of military and political decisions.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Most Anglocentric Book Ever, February 18, 2005

By 

Fred Thomas - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Battle of France, 1940 (Cassell Military Paperbacks) (Paperback)

A survey of the appendix says it all. 14 pages are devoted to a detailed listing of the British order of battle down to the battalion. The Germans get less than a page (including comical statements such as "Army Group B were all infantry corps"), the French get less than half a page, and the Belgians and Dutch share a single sentence.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Plain lousy, September 7, 2004

By 

Devl's Advocate "RSHA" (Hölle) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Battle of France, 1940 (Cassell Military Paperbacks) (Paperback)

Typical Warner who likes to think that all campaigns and battles revolve around the British, that they alone are the masters of the battlefield.

Poorly written, scantily researched (if at all), this book will be a delight to read for the British, but rubbish to the rest of the world.