The Maginot Line 1928-45 [Paperback]

William Allcorn (Author), Chris Taylor (Author)

Book Description

Series: Fortress | Publication Date: August 20, 2003

The Maginot Line, the massive series of fortifications built by France in the 1930s to defend its borders with Germany and Italy, is perhaps the most maligned collection of fortifications ever built. Despite being a technological marvel, and the most sophisticated and complex set of fortifications built up to that time, it failed to save France from crushing defeat in 1940. Yet there are those who argue that it accomplished exactly what it was designed to do. This book provides a concise and informative treatment of the Maginot Line, from North-East France to the Mediterranean. Packed with plans, contemporary and modern images, plus digital artwork, it presents a detailed visual exploration of this famous fortification system.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

William Allcorn, a former US army officer who served in Vietnam, has a long standing interest in forts and fortifications of all eras, and over the years has visited and photographed many sites. For several years he lived in Luxembourg and Germany, which afforded him the opportunity to extensively visit and explore the heart of the Maginot Line. William has acted as a historical consultant for several documentary television programmes on fortification related topics, and has written several articles for FORT, the journal of the Fortress Study Group. He lives in Southern California.

Product Details

• Paperback: 64 pages
• Publisher: Osprey Publishing (August 20, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1841766461
• ISBN-13: 978-1841766461
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 0.2 x 9.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #951,341 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Maginot Line, September 14, 2003

By 

Bert Roman (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Maginot Line 1928-45 (Paperback)

Truly an interesting topic this book details the Maginot Line in great detail showing everything you might want to know about its technical details. As Dr. Forsyk mentions, despite all the interesting illustrations the author does not show the location of the main forts,even on a map of the Maginot Line with forts identified by little blue and white squares but without names. Other books or maps are needed to fill this major gap since a good military history should have vital maps. The book does identify the number of weapons and forts in good detail. The book is devoted to technical detail and the author fails to give a real good history describing the Maginot Line's history and activites in war. Dr. Forsyk mentions the finances and how the line should have been extended and this is another problem with the book. The problem was not just money. Other books do explain clearly why it was not possible or reasonable to extend the fortifications and this one does not since its design and construction history is only about 2 full pages in length. The book has only about 10 pages, pages that are about 50% illustration, of text on the history from begining to end. This book is just a technical description of the Maginot Line for those espcially interested in that with interesting illustrations. The authors technical details are also interesting although it lacks the history one will find in Anthony Kemp's landmark work also called The Maginot Line.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Starting Point, September 4, 2003

By 

David Stapleton (California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Maginot Line 1928-45 (Paperback)

Let's face it this book is only 64 pages, so we aren't talking about an exhaustive treatment of the Maginot Line. That said, however, Allcorn does a wonderful job of presenting a good history of the fortifications. The book begins with a brief overview of the political and sociological rational behind the line. It then dives into a fairly detailed dissection of the fortress works, large and small from Northern France down through the Alps and on along the border with Italy. This coverage of the structures is the meat of the book, followed by a short discussion/narrative of the action surrounding the forts during the early and later years of the war.

The illustrations are everything you would expect from Osprey. They include maps, graphs, cut-away images, photographs and historical concept images. The author concludes the book with a section on visiting/touring the forts and some resources for further information. All in all, for someone who knew only the myth/legend of the line of fortifications, I found the book informative and entertaining; providing a good basis from which to pursue further reading. P-)

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Exposing the Myth, September 13, 2003

By 

R. A Forczyk (MD, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Maginot Line 1928-45 (Paperback)

Osprey's Fortress #10, Maginot Line 1928-1945, goes a long way toward exposing the myth of the supposedly invincible defensive line built in the 1930s. Although there have been a handful of other recent books on European fortifications, this volume by William Allcorn is a useful technical summary that corrects many misconceptions about the line.

Allcorn begins with very short sections on the reasons why France decided to invest the Maginot Line and how the defenses were built, although there are no photographs from the construction period. Fully half the volume deals with the structure of the Maginot Line and Allcorn spares no detail about the different types of ouvrages ("works"), interval forts and "cloches" (armored cupolas). Indeed, Allcorn gets a bit carried away in his technical descriptions and becomes rather tedious. Unfortunately, Allcorn spends less effort on critical aspects of the Maginot Line, like where the key fortifications were actually located. While Allcorn provides five maps (the general distribution of fortifications, the forts in northeast France, the forts on the Italian border, the Metz fortified region, and the German invasion), none are detailed enough to actually locate large forts like the Hackenberg. Instead, Allcorn continually refers the reader to Michelin maps, which is rather a cop-out. Also, a number of the illustrations, such as the generator room at Hackenberg, really don't tell the reader anything.

The strength of Allcorn's account lies in exposing the myth of the Maginot Line for what it was not. Indeed, Allcorn notes that the French kept many details of the Line secret even after the Second World War and the popular conception remained that it was a continuous line of monstrous forts. The truth, as Allcorn demonstrates, was far more prosaic. The Maginot Line was in fact, a series of large and small combat blocks, which were themselves mostly a series of smaller bunkers. Allcorn has spent a great deal of time in what remains of the Line, and it is amazing to hear that the mighty Maginot Line only mounted 43 135mm howitzers and 138 elderly 75mm guns, as well as 162 other mortars and guns. Few of the forts had garrisons of more than 200-300 men and while some of the larger forts had internal rail lines for moving ammunition, there was no underground rail line connecting all the forts. Furthermore, living conditions were very poor inside the Line and the garrisons generally lived in nearby barracks except during war. Allcorn also provides details on the fortifications built along the Italian border and on Corsica, all of which were part of the Maginot program.

Allcorn's chapters on the Maginot Line in the Second World War and after do reveal some new details, but they are essentially weak. During the 1940 Blitzkrieg, the Germans were only able to seize a few of the smaller forts, but the bunkers built along the Rhine were all quickly knocked out by an ingenuous effort utilizing numerous 88mm flak guns. Allcorn concludes that the Maginot Line did what it was designed to do - deter and impede a German invasion of northeast France - but that the failure of French leadership to provide adequate air and armor units to prevent a German breakthrough elsewhere invalidated the whole program. While skimming over the German occupation of the Line, Allcorn does provide some interesting details about the Line after the war.

Typically, the Maginot Line is derided as a complete waste of money that failed to save France from invasion. If only the money had been spent on tanks and aircraft, the French might have survived the Blitzkrieg, goes the popular refrain. However, Allcorn notes that the Maginot Line, built between 1928-1936 cost about five billion francs (about $100 million in then dollars). Unfortunately, Allcorn fails to note that the French defense budget in the mid-1930s was about $900 million (45 billion francs) per year; therefore, the Maginot Line cost only about 1.3% of the French defense budget for eight years. Apparently, if France lacked money for mobile forces it was not due to the Maginot Line. Given the apparent low cost and apparent effectiveness of the fortifications that were built, it is hard to understand the argument that France lacked the money to extend the line across the entire French border. Indeed, if there was waste in the French military establishment, it was more likely due to the navy, which had a large number of expensive but obsolescent battleships. Perhaps the real argument should be, if only the French had scrapped their battle fleet (which was irrelevant to the threat of German invasion anyway), they might have gained the funds, personnel, armament and steel to complete the Maginot Line across the entire border. Is there anyone who thinks that Rommel or Guderian could have crossed the Meuse so easily in the face of Maginot-type fortifications?