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The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916

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This is a recognized classic, published originally in 1963, and is frequently quoted or referenced in other books about the wars of this century. In spite of its "classic" nature, the book remains as relevant and fresh as ever, helped along no doubt by minor touch ups in its numerous later editions as the author discovered new information.

The book is so well researched, and so well written, and has such a depth of understanding and insight as to the gigantic human struggle that was the Battle of Verdun that it is hard to imagine anyone ever writing a better book on this subject. The range of topics covered runs the entire gamut, from daily life in the trenches, individual accounts of battle, the effect of technology and weaponry on the battle, and detailed analyses of the tactics and character of the military commanders of both sides. All of this is written in a prose that exudes compassion and respect for the soldiers that endured the Battle of Verdun.
The author avoids the usual mistake of historians writing long after the fact of looking back with too much 20-20 hindsight. For instance, the Germans already had at their disposal aircraft that could drop enough bombs to have completely severed the only functioning road that the French had left to supply their troops at Verdun. Why didn't they? The author simply quotes a German commander : "We did not understand how airplanes were to be used in this war".

With such simple statements, the author reveals a great many insights. World War I is often thought of in hindsight now as a gigantic charnal house, the first war where the term "cannon fodder" became relevant, with the images of endless human waves of soldiers being mowed down by machine guns, sent to their deaths by unthinking and monumentally stupid military leaders.

In fact, as the author writes in the preface, the reason for the enormous casualties was simply that in WWI, the battles were fought by technologically advanced nations that were essentially evenly matched, and that any such conflict would result in an enormous number of casualties. WWII simply shifted the numbers of casualties to a greater extent to the civilian population. In WWIII, the vast majority of such casualties would almost certainly be borne mainly by civilians.

How to explain the seemingly senseless nature of trench warfare in WWI? The author makes clear in this book that WWI had a unique set of ingredients:

a) machine guns and artillery, having essentially reached technological perfection, were well-understood by the military and so were the preeminent technological forces of this war. By themselves, both were relatively static weapons, that could be defended against only with trenches.

b) a number of other weapons which made their first entry in WWI - airplanes, tanks, poison gas, flame-throwers, even motorized transportation, were too new to be well understood by the military leaders, and so were not used to any lasting advantage by either side.

c) there having been a period of 44 years since the last major war (in 1870, between France and Germany), none of the military leaders had any combat experience, other than dealing with minor skirmishes in the colonies. The military heads were essentially all political appointees as a result. On all sides, the tactical thinking of the military leaders was based on outdated theories of how war should be conducted, with the only practical previous experience being one-sided wars with technologically inferior nations.

d) the hierarchical and structured nature of society in Europe of that period led to strict enforcement of authority, making it difficult to question the poor decisions of these military leaders, until well past the breaking point - this led to the French Army mutinies, the revolution in Russia, and the revolt in Germany.

If you want to understand World War I, this book about the battle of Verdun is a must-read.

A history professor once told me that World War I, the French Revolution, and the U.S. Constitution had inspired more history than any other events or episodes. World War I exhausted Europe; at the outset, its armies, navies and colonies held dominion over much of the globe, but at the end it was a pauper continent, with both victors and vanquished shattered by deaths and debts, reparations and revolutions. And Verdun marked a pivotal moment in this transformation, for here the generals revealed that they had too few ideas about how to win--but too many men still to feed into the meatgrinder.

Because of battles like Verdun, many associate World War I with images and episodes straight from "All Quiet on the Western Front" or "Paths of Glory"--futile attacks and counterattacks, weary and shell-shocked men running across pulverized land only to be killed or maimed by mass-produced bullets and explosives, victims of Europe's collective skill at the industries of war. In this meta-narrative, the perpetrators of this mass slaughter remain hidden, distant, aloof, living in idyllic chateaux miles away from the mud and the blood, their actions either inscrutable or idiotic.

Horne pulls back the curtain to reveal the character and personality of those generals, showing their unique strengths and weaknesses and how those character traits played themselves out in one of the greatest battles in human history. By writing so well about the decision-makers, he makes the churned earth and spilled blood more tragic--and more understandable. Verdun, a battle Horne describes "the battlefield with the highest density of dead per square yard that has probably ever been known" was by all accounts a supreme test of wills for both France and Germany. In Horne's hands, though, it becomes something more tangible and real, a clash not just of armies, but of people.

In addition to the excellent human descriptions, though, Horne writes wonderfully and vividly about the scenes of the battle. Some authors and books wring the life out of historical events, turning them into stale words on dead paper. But Horne brings this monstrous battle to life, vividly describing the claustrophobic underground tunnels of shell-battered Fort Douamont and the clutching terror of phosgene gas. Horne takes a catastrophic battle of mind-boggling proportions and makes it all too real.

Until recently, I was a battlefield tour guide in Europe. One of our most popular tours was to Verdun. The best source in English we found for details of the battle was "The Price of Glory". Most English-language histories concentrate, naturally, on British and Empire contributions. However, Verdun was a bloodier battle than the Somme (it indirectly caused it), and was responsible for the change of mindset in France and Germany about this conflict being over by Christmas. Yet, Verdun is known only generally by most English-speaking historians. After 35 years this book is still "the" source for Verdun, and deserves to be in every WW1 historian's library. However, some of the author's prejudices are apparent (note I am NOT a PC historian): early on we read that he "dislikes Germans", and while French commanders are almost invariably described as embodying the "Gaullic Temperament/Ideal", their German equivalents are "beady-eyed, low-browed" brutes. French colonial troops are also given this patronizing treatment that is embarrassing to a reader in the late 1990's. Finally, I found a preponderance of views from the French side, the German perspective is slighted. Perhaps in future editions, the stereotypes will disappear, and more research on the Central Powers will balance this excellent work.

I have read literally hundreds of works on military history concerning the War Between the States, World War II, and World War I. I have also had the opportunity to visit the battlefield at Verdun. In all the works I have read there have been some "greats", but for the average "history buff", two stand out. They are "Inside the Third Reich" by Speer and "The Price of Glory" by Horne. Both not only tell the story, but they tell it in such clear and well written way, that you can open either at any page and be enthralled by the presentation of information. It is an honor to have the opportunity to review such an excellent work.

It's a difficult task to write history that is well-researched, in depth, and factually precise, but at the same time aware of the narrative power of an evocative story well told. "The Price of Glory" is all these things. It's a powerful piece of writing, but also a serious and important work of historiography. It's the first book of Horne's I've read, but I intend now to track down several others.

Horne makes a strong case that Verdun was not only a shocking slaughter in its own right ("It was the indecisive battle in an indecisive war; the unnecessary battle in an unnecessary war; the battle that had no victors in a war that had no victors." -- p. 331), but an event that had massive symbolic and physical consequences across nations and generations.

This explains why Verdun is still relevant today, and why "The Price of Glory" is useful reading even for people who aren't armchair generals. As the title suggests -- and the narrative makes clear -- the simple military objective is only the start of the Verdun story. As the battle progressed, military objectives, and the lives of the men involved, became secondary to (allegedly) larger questions of "national honor." Blinded by the pursuit of pride, revenge, or honor, the bullheaded French insistence on *attaque à outrance* as much as the German plan to "bleed them white" virtually guaranteed a bloodbath -- especially when some men sought the glory while others paid the price.

I think this is a book the reader will long remember -- not only for the lessons of the battle and the price paid to learn them, but also for the skill and elegance with which Alastair Horne recounts them.

This is a good book on the battle of Verdun. Its probably the best book in English on the subject and it very accessable to the ordinary reader in terms of explaining the battle and telling its story.

Many people focus on the extraordinary lose of life associated with the battle on both sides. But the battle is very interesting as an example of a strategy gone wrong. Both sides lost their prespective on events with disasterous consequences. The initial German plan was for an offensive in a strong and critical sector of the french front that would force the French into a counterattack with disproportionate losses on their side. What went wrong at first was that the German attacks were more successful than the german side ever imagined they would be. The success of the attacks created an impression that an outright victory at Verdun might be possible. This impression led to huge losses to the german army. The Germans had in fact blundered into the trap they had hoped to set for the French. And once the losses started to mount, they losses themselves became part of a circular logic that kept the offensive going. Once the germans had exhausted their offensive push, the French did what the Germans had originally expected them to do and launched counteroffensives with huge losses to take back everything that they had lost.

The lessons I took from the book is that plans have to be objectively re-evaluated on a regular basis. Emotion and prestige need to take second place to an understanding of what can be gained at what cost. Finally, that victory fever can fool a leader implimenting a successful strategy into making enormous gambles to win a bigger victory than the strategy was intended to deliver.

Beyond the questions of strategy, the book shows the true acts of what can only be called heroism on both sides in the different phases of the battle. There were shocking victories and bitter defenses on both sides. Horne also does a wonderful job of going beyond the battle into its effects on French culture, history and politics in the postwar period. There is no other book about Verdun in english that even comes close and few books on the first world war that capture it so well.

I have read many books regarding the Great War. This one easily tops the list. By focusing on the Battle of Verdun as a microcosm of the war in general, Alstair Horne brings the war down to a more human level. His retelling of the fall of Fort Duamont and the defense of Fort Vaux are exceptional in their detail and makes you appreciate the soldiers experience in this most horrific of wars.

There is no doubt that Alistair Horne's The Price of Glory, first written in 1962, is a classic of military history. Horne's account of the sanguinary ten-month Battle of Verdun in 1916 is still the best English-language account of the campaign. The Price of Glory also represents the middle volume of Horne's trilogy on the Franco-German wars fought between 1870 and 1940. Certainly anyone with an interest in the First World War should read and reread Horne's book.

Horne's descriptions of the German capture of Fort Douamont and the underground battles in the corridors of Fort Vaux are told dramatically and with great style. The battles for the hills on the left bank of the Meuse and the constant see-saw of German attacks and French counterattacks round out the narrative. It should be noted though, that Horne's primary focus is on the high-level strategy behind the battle. German General Falkenhayn's intent to fight a limited attritional battle at Verdun in order to bleed the French white is explained, although the failure of the German's to follow through on the commander's intent should provide examples in the danger of "mission creep". There is much emphasis on French generals, too, including Joffre, de Castelnau, Petain, Mangin and Nivelle. Although diary and post-war accounts from junior soldiers are included, their accounts seem intended more to embellish the main story.

In 1962, this was a ground-breaking book. Unfortunately, Martin Middlebrook demonstrated a superior methodology in his First World War books on the Somme and the Kaiserschlacht. Compared to Middlebrook, parts of Horne's book appear somewhat shallow. For example, although Horne notes that 70% of the French army passed through Verdun, he mentions only a few units by name. Certainly Horne should have provided a complete order of battle of all French and German divisions that fought at Verdun. The single sketch map of the battlefield is barely adequate. Unlike Middlebrook's methodology, Horne has no chapter that attempts to analyze the results of the battle; he opines that nobody actually won the battle but this seems totally subjective. While the French victory may have been pyrrhic in nature, the fact is that the French achieved their goal of holding Verdun while the Germans failed in their bid to take it. There are some errors and omissions in the book. One such error refers to the destruction of the mutinous Russian brigades in France in 1917 by French cannons. Readers should check out the recent book, With Snow on their Boots, that details the actual fate of the Russian expeditionary brigades in France. Horne also fails to mention much detail about the air battles over Verdun and is weak on discussing artillery and intelligence issues. Instead, Horne gets carried away in the epilogue detailing all the Second World War celebrities who had some connection with Verdun.

Nevertheless, The Price of Glory remains an excellent account of Verdun. Yet the day is coming when this classic will be replaced by a newer account that offers depth and detail lacking in Horne's account.

The Battle of Verdun was a condensed version of the entire First World War. In this 10 month-long battle, the Germans made impressive initial gains, but were unable to exploit their advantage due to the adamant and intense French defense that denied them final victory. The feuds between German generals and administrative problems also worked against their initial success. Sir Alistair Horne brings all these issues to live and many others in what is a stunningly impressive book.

This engagement was fought entirely between French and German units. What makes Sir Alister's book so important is that most accounts of World War I in English tend to focus on the experiences of the United Kingdom. The French Army, however, contributed more division to the western front than the British. The focus on a battle in which no British units participated is rare in an English-language publication. The book is also an easy read. One testament to the caliber of the prose is that it has stayed in print since its initial publication over 40 years ago, which is no easy thing.

The leading figures in this study are names well-known to any student of the Great War: Falkenhayn, Joffre, Castelnau, Petain, Crown Prince Wilhelm and Nivelle. Horne does an excellent job of giving his readers short biographical sketches that breath life into these legendary names in a way that presents them as they were--human beings with strengths and frailties like everyone else.

As good as this book is there are some problems. Readers with out any ability in French might find Horne's passages in this language rather confusing. Sir Alistair's argument that Verdun cost Germany any chance of winning the war seems a little suspect as well. The German Army remained an effective force until the last stages of the conflict. Other factors, such as diplomatic ineptitude and provoking the United States to enter the war probably did more to cost the Germans victory than the defeat at Verdun. Still, even with those points in mind, this book is quite impressive and readers will enjoy it.

Alistair Horne's epic about Verdun is one of the best history books I have ever read. He provides detailed information with the style which makes all the facts flow. Not only does he detail the battle itself, but takes time out to describe the adventures of a German Sergeant Kunze who infiltrates Forts Douaumont. What makes this chapter different is the almost minute by minute retelling of the soldier's activities. He actually stops to eat in a fort surrounded by the enemy with prisoners he captured locked in a broom closet!

I have previously read How Far From Austerlitz? by Horne and enjoyed it as much as Verdun. This book is the second in a three part trilogy covering the Franco-Prussian War (The Fall of Paris) and World War II (To Lose a Battle France 1940) All definitely worth the time to read.