Attrition

The First World War was too big to be grasped by its participants. In the retelling of their war in the competing memories of leaders and commanders, and the anguished fiction of its combatants, any sense of order and purpose, effort and achievement, was missing.

Drawing on the experience of front line soldiers, munitions workers, politicians and those managing the vast economy of industrialised warfare, ATTRITION explains for the first time why and how this new type of conflict born out of industrial society was fought as it was. It was the first mass war in which the resources of the fully-mobilised societies strained every sinew in a conflict over ideals - and the humblest and highest were all caught up in the national enterprise.

In a stunning narrative, this brilliant and necessary reassessment of the whole war cuts behind the myth-making to reveal the determination, organization and ambition on all sides.

“A refreshingly balanced view . . . the great strength of Philpott's book is its magisterial overview of the whole war . . . a fine contribution to our growing understanding of the conflict - Daily TelegraphA highly readable account . . . a great book for those who want to look behind the propaganda - Sunday HeraldRequired reading . . . A thoughtful and important book by a first-rate historian . . . It is a proper history of the battle, not simply an agonising account of its first day . . . He is supremely skilful in charting what he terms the battle's "shifting history and enduring memory" . . . There is something about the Somme that is imprinted onto my heart, and I am grateful that this book has helped me put it into a context that goes beyond time, place, courage and suffering”

A refreshingly balanced view . . . the great strength of Philpott's book is its magisterial overview of the whole war . . . a fine contribution to our growing understanding of the conflict - Daily Telegraph

A highly readable account . . . a great book for those who want to look behind the propaganda - Sunday Herald

Required reading . . . A thoughtful and important book by a first-rate historian . . . It is a proper history of the battle, not simply an agonising account of its first day . . . He is supremely skilful in charting what he terms the battle's "shifting history and enduring memory" . . . There is something about the Somme that is imprinted onto my heart, and I am grateful that this book has helped me put it into a context that goes beyond time, place, courage and suffering

Dr William Philpott is Professor of the History of Warfare in the Department of War Studies, King's College London. He is a specialist in the First World War, in particular British strategy and the history of the French army.

'A magisterial overview of the whole war, on every front and in every combatant country . . . Attrition marshals a vast amount of information from a wide variety of sources to construct an admirably clear narrative . . . a fine contribution to our growing understanding of the conflict' Telegraph In this astonishing re-evaluation of the First World War and our perceptions of it, William Philpott argues that in the competing and emotionally charged accounts of the events of 1914-18, memories have become muddled. Attrition provides a much-needed corrective and, for the first time, explains how and why this new type of conflict was fought as it was fought. Philpott's brilliant and necessary reassessment of the whole war cuts behind the myth-making to reveal the determination, organisation and ambition on all sides. 'A highly readable account . . . a great book for those who want to look behind the propaganda' Sunday Herald

The First World War was too big to be grasped by its participants. In the retelling of their war in the competing memories of leaders and commanders, and the anguished fiction of its combatants, any sense of order and purpose, effort and achievement, was missing. Drawing on the experience of front line soldiers, munitions workers, politicians and those managing the vast economy of industrialised warfare, ATTRITION explains for the first time why and how this new type of conflict born out of industrial society was fought as it was. It was the first mass war in which the resources of the fully-mobilised societies strained every sinew in a conflict over ideals - and the humblest and highest were all caught up in the national enterprise. In a stunning narrative, this brilliant and necessary reassessment of the whole war cuts behind the myth-making to reveal the determination, organization and ambition on all sides.

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