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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Very Good Read Indeed!, October 3, 2006
This review is from: Lightning War: Blitzkrieg in the West, 1940 (Hardcover)
"Lightning War" is a well written and compelling history of the German invasion of the Low Countries and France in 1940.
Author and Professor Ronald E. Powaski writes well and explains clearly and methodically why France and Britain were so quickly defeated by a numerically and qualitatively inferior German Army. He takes the reader, step by step, through the key decisions and actions by both sides, which resulted in an unprecedented Wehrmacht victory. Those not familiar with the campaign will finish this book much better educated on Germany's "Blitzkrieg" campaign in the West.
If all historians wrote history as well as Powaski it would be a much more popular subject and we would have a much better educated population.
The book is well illustrated with photographs, many of them new. Like all books, however, "Lightning War" suffers from weaknesses. The first is the lack of maps, which would have allowed the reader to follow the action being described. "Lightning War" could have benefited from more maps, but here one must blame the editors rather than the author.
Another, more important, weakness is that vast bulk of references cited are secondary, despite the fact that Powaski stresses his use of primary sources early in the book. Thus, there is little new in this book. Still, sometimes an important story needs to be retold.
However, by repeating previous history Powaski propagates several old myths, dismissed long ago. Certainly the most glaring, which arises early in the book, is that the German panzer Generals took their ideas from British historian and strategist Basil Liddell Hart. This myth was dispelled some time ago by another historian, John J. Mearsheimer, in his ground-breaking "Liddell Hart and the Weight of History".
Another is that Hitler danced a jig after the defeat of France. This was based on a clip of Adolph Hitler stomping his foot several times and appearing as though he is dancing. Historians disproved this myth long ago and the short film clip is actually a loop of Hitler stamping his foot once in glee over the French defeat.
Nonetheless, this is very good history and Powaski shows that we can still learn a great deal from previously published material. He puts the blame for the defeat of France squarely on French shoulders and attributes it primary to its military leaders. "The French military was led by too many old men," he writes, "men like Gamelin, who, more than anyone else, was responsible for the decision to send France's best armies into Belgium."
Powaski also gives credit to the Wehrmacht, who, of course, had a great deal to do with the French and British defeat. Its leadership, doctrine, organization, and mode of operations ensured that the Germany army and air force were much better prepared to exploit new opportunities and retain the initiative for much of the campaign. As a result the French were simply unable to get inside the German High Command's decision cycle.
Overall, "Lightning War" is a very good read indeed!
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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"I'm Not Going To Die Dressed Like A Third-Rate Chauffeur", June 3, 2003
This review is from: Lightning War: Blitzkrieg in the West, 1940 (Hardcover)
This is a very solid book on the May 1940 German invasion of Belgium, Holland, and France and the subsequent Allied evacuation of troops from Dunkirk. The casual reader (I'm including myself, here) may be a bit put off by the first half of the book, which details the German thrust through the Ardennes forest into Belgium. I found this section to be overly technical, with the chessboard maneuverings of troops on both sides gone into in great detail. It also didn't help that the maps are few and far between, and are too general. For all the detail that the author goes into he really needed more maps, with each one covering a smaller area. (The maps were not created for this book, by the way. They are all borrowed from William Shirer's "Collapse Of The Third Republic.") So, that's on the downside. But here's the good news: the book really picks up in the second half, with a much better balance of technical description with human interest. I don't think you will find a better-written account of the Dunkirk evacuation, with many first-person accounts of the action- and the behind the scenes political action in London, Paris, and Brussels, as well. The author is very even-handed in his account and, in my opinion, he draws the proper conclusions from the evidence presented. The British intentionally delayed, almost to the last moment, telling the French that the retreat to Dunkirk was only the prelude to the British intention of evacuating all troops from the Continent. They wanted the French to fight on to "cover" the evacuation, so the French were allowed to believe that Dunkirk was going to be turned into a gathering point from which to launch a counterattack. British claims that the French soldiers "threw in the towel" were erroneous. The author shows that the common soldiers fought well and bravely. They were let down by the political and military leadership. The officer corps was too old and stuck in the past. They were still thinking in terms of WWI, with tanks in support of infantry. They didn't understand mechanized warfare. If they did, they would have realized that the Ardennes forest was definitely a possible invasion route, and they wouldn't have diverted so many men and so much equipment to the North. The Germans concentrated their tank forces for maximum effectiveness. The French and Belgians spread their tanks out and used them piecemeal. The Germans also used air support, which the French and Belgians didn't. The German commanders were right at the front, and were allowed to think independently and show initiative. Allied commanders were expected to stick to the "game plan" devised by generals who stayed back from the front- and who, therefore, didn't know what was going on. The lessons from the 1939 Nazi invasion of Poland were there for all to see- but the lessons weren't learned. The evacuation from Dunkirk, however, was a remarkable achievement. It is ironic that Hitler, who was bold enough to approve the thrust through the Ardennes which precipitated the Allied military collapse, was instrumental in assisting the success of the evacuation. The panzers got so far ahead of the German infantry that even Hitler reverted to a WWI mentality and worried about a counterattack. Against the wishes of his top brass, he halted the panzers for several crucial days- allowing the Allies to re-group and to organize the evacuation. You may be wondering about the significance of the title of this review. I chose it as being representative of the many wonderful first person accounts that are included. It is part of a quotation from Major Angus McCorquodale, a company commander in the British Expeditionary Force. He was an "old-fashioned" soldier, and didn't like the modern uniform. He preferred the old, polished brass and leather. As the major said, "I don't mind dying for my country, but I'm not going to die dressed like a third-rate chauffeur." Later on, after his men had stopped a German infantry advance, McCorquodale pulled out some bottles of sherry and some glasses and proposed a toast "To a very gallant and competent enemy."
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14 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Good Account, but some basic mistakes, March 26, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Lightning War: Blitzkrieg in the West, 1940 (Hardcover)
This is a pretty good account of the fall of France in 1940 and the "miracle" at Dunkirk. The author writes fairly vividly. The book has good maps. However, there are a number of problems with the book: 1. It's not very well-sourced. There are hardly any footnotes (just very limited "chapter notes" in the back) 2. The author gets it wrong about a widely known fact. Hitler did not "dance a jig" at Versailles. He stamped his foot and the British did a film loop of that. 3. Another basic error is when the author says the SS grew into a force of several divisions. The SS eventually comprised 38 divisions which is a lot more than several. 4. The author raises the possibility that British soldiers massacred members of the SS after a battle. There is no specific sourcing for that (see #1). 5. The narrative gets a little confusing near the end (the maps). 6. The author doesn't present an accurate number of the French evacuated at Dunkirk (he states a number that is exceeded by the number he mentioned as being evacuated in a single day). Bottom line: Worthwhile to read but the sloppiness makes it impossible to give it 4 or 5 stars.
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