Verdun

October 15, 2013

For most students of military history, the Battle of Verdun is remembered as a single conflict that began and ended in 1916 in which the French--at great cost--won back land lost in 1914 to the invading German army. Historical revisionist Mosier (English, Loyola Univ.; The Myth of the Great War: A New Military History of World War I) contests this conventional view of one of the bloodiest battles of World War I with a new interpretation of established stories, data, motivations, and results. In Mosier's view, Verdun was a series of at least eight separate and distinct battles that lasted from 1916 until the 1918 armistice. Further, he argues that based on his archaeological and archival research, commonly accepted facts surrounding casualty figures, battlefield and military command strategies, and combat history are all, and at their core, flawed. Early in the book, Mosier suggests not splitting hairs over finer details but then proceeds to do just that. While reexamining and reinterpreting are important aspects of historical scholarship, the evidence presented here is neither compelling nor convincing. VERDICT Of supplemental interest to nonacademic World War I military history buffs.--Linda Frederiksen, Washington State Univ. Lib., Vancouver

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