Softcover

ISBN 10: 0140146628 ISBN 13: 9780140146622

Publisher: Penguin Putnam~trade, 1994

Of all the grim, gallant and inglorious battles of the Western Front, Passchendaele is the name evocative of the "mud and bl ood" that pervaded World War I. The total gain - a few thousand yards of indefensible slough - cost about a million Allied lives. In this account of the Flanders campaign, Leon Wolff describes the whole nightmare business: Haig's initial plan; his determination to carry it out despite constant opposition from the Cabinet and the muddle of doubts and disagreement among the military staff; the early stages of the "great offensive"; and the scene of battle itself - the Flanders fields which "will forever haunt Western civilization".

From the Publisher:

Of all the grim, gallant, and inglorious battles of the Western Front, Passchendaele is the name uniquely evocative of the “mud and blood” that pervaded the First World War. The total gain—a few thousand yards of indefensible slough—cost many tens of thousands of Allied lives. In this now–classic account of the Flanders campaign, first published in 1959, Leon Wolff graphically describes the whole terrible business: from Haig’s initial plan; his determination to carry it out despite constant opposition from the Cabinet and the muddle of doubts and disagreement among the military staff; through the early stages of the “great offensive”; and to the scene of the battle itself—the Flanders fields that will “forever haunt Western civilization.”

About the Author:

Leon Wolff is American and served in the US Air Force during the Second World War, and his first book, LOW LEVEL MISSION, describes his wartime experiences. Leon Wolff was awarded the Francis Parkman Prize from the Society of American Historians for his third book, LITTLE BROWN BROTHER.