BOOKS ON RUSSO GERMAN WAR 1914-17 Reviewed

1. 1
1

2. 2
2

3. 3
3

4. 4
4

5. 5
5

6. 6
6

7. 7
7

8. 8
8

9. 9
9

10. 10
10

11. 11
11

12. 12
12

13. 13
13

14. 14
14

15. 15
15

16. 16
16

17. 17
17

18. 18
18

19. 19
19

20. 20
20
This is one of the best known
books on the eastern front in first
world war.
First the book contains excellent
maps and this makes it superior
to all the other existing books on
this part of first world war.
Churchills descriptions are logical
and precise and add great clarity
to his narrative such as
description about Austro
Hungary on page-

21. 21
21

22. 22
22
The way Churchill links different
events of history is most
interesting (page-28) ,like Russo
Japanese war and Dardanelles :--
Churchills description of
personalities and their impact on
history of the conflict under
discussion is also most
penetrating and informative like
on page- 81 :--

23. 23
23
Churchills description of inner
torments and struggles of key
characters in the conflict are also
most interesting (Page-94) :--

24. 24
24
Churchills maps like maps
describing Austro Hungarian
mobilization plans are precise
and detailed and make the
reader well informed about what
was going on .

25. 25
25
Side by side Churchills analysis is
illuminating and he takes the
reader alongwith him as if he was
sitting by your side (page-119) :--
Brilliant battle descriptions
(page-146) make the reader well
informed about what was going

26. 26
26
on in East Prussia as the
Tannenberg battles began :--
Churchills summaries are brilliant
(page-311-12) :--

27. 27
27

28. 28
28
This scribe would term Churchills
book a must read to understand
the eastern front in first world
war.I would have no hesitation
on rating it far superior to any
book that has been written till
todate.

29. 29
29

30. 30
30
I find David R Stones book
although far shorter ,
considerably more useful than
Mr Norman Stones far more
detailed book.
Like on page – David Stones
analysis is more precise and
clearly worded :--

31. 31
31

32. 32
32
The summing up of chapter on
Russia in WW One is brilliant
(page-175 ) :--
This is a short book as far as
understanding Russian army in
first world war but it gives an

33. 33
33
excellent summary in a short
page span and should be read
first by a layman in order to
understand what happened with
Russia in WW One.Ideally this
book should be read in
conjunction with Churchills book
if the reader has time or with
Lidell Harts chapters on Russia in
WW One if you don’t have time.

34. 34
34

35. 35
35
Liddell Harts monumental book
on first world war has four
chapters on Russian army in WW
One and are well written.
Liddell Harts opening sentences
analyzing Tannenberg are
brilliant :--
Liddell Harts opening summary
sums up what Stone would have
taken 50 pages to sum up (page-
99) :--

36. 36
36
Liddell Harts geographical
description on East Prussia is
equally interesting :--

37. 37
37
Liddell Harts strength of pen lies
in the fact that he could
summarise in one paragraph
what Churcill would state in 15
pages and Stone in 50 pages
,thus the brilliant description of
change of command of the

38. 38
38
German Army defending East
Prussia on page 101 :--
Liddell Hart brilliantly sums up
what happened at Tannenberg in
less than a page on page 106 :--

39. 39
39
Liddell Harts chapter four
describing the opening Austro

40. 40
40
Hungarian catastrophes is equally
profound (page-107):--

41. 41
41
On page 117 Liddell Hart subtly
and brilliantly sums up the Austro
Hungarian failure as no writer
could :--
Page 140 we again find Liddell
Hart summing up with masterly
brevity what was happening on
the Russian front in just one
paragraph :--

42. 42
42
Liddell Hart thus continued :--

43. 43
43
Liddell Harts analysis is also more
intellectually honest and he does
not hoodwink issues even when
it is western betrayal of Russia as
in 1916 :-- (page-149)
On page 227 Liddell Hart well
describes Brusillovs offensive of
Russia as a Pyrrhic victory :--

44. 44
44
Liddell Harts conclusions are not
shots in isolation like many
authors.Like he assessed
Brusillovs offensives cost as
Russias final collapse and
revolution on page – 229:--

45. 45
45
He also notes that Russia all
along was sacrificing its interest
to help its allies in France , while
many authors don’t stress on this
point at all.
On page 304 Liddell Hart
describes Russias final collapse in
1917 and fortrightly links it to
Russian sacrifices made to save
France, an issue dodged by most
western authors including those
reviewed in this short book:--

46. 46
46
In his “Epilogue” Liddell Hart
again pays a befitting albeit brief
tribute to Russias decisive role in
First World War (Page-464)
Stones book has no conclusion
and although he is full of details ,
he does not highlight the fact in
sufficient detail that whatever
Russia did in first world war was
to save France.
Liddell Harts book is useful to
have a quick understanding of
what was happening, while I have
no hestitation in placing
Churchills book at the top of all

47. 47
47
books reviewed in this short
publication .

48. 48
48

49. 49
49
Norman Stones book has been
much praised by many historians.
This is a much quoted book on
the eastern front in WW 1 and a
must read book.
Norman Stone has been on
target list of PRESSTITUTES but
this is his finest book.
Stone starts with a powerful
description on page 20 :--

50. 50
50
The writers analysis of minute
brained czarist generals is
interesting as he refers to one as
below :--

51. 51
51
Stone starts with the premise
that Russo Japanese war led to
crucial economic and
administrative reforms and by
1914 Russian states military was
at par with Germany.
However more important , Stone
noted that Russian mindset and
Russian system was still far
backward , inefficient and flawed
(page-22) :--

52. 52
52
Stone clarifies (page-24) that
Russian Army did not consist of
upper classes unlike Westen
Europe since Russian state could
not afford to pay officers salaries
as high as Germany etc.
On same page Stone elaborates
the economic issues in greater
details:--

53. 53
53
Further the Russian officer corps
had a high non Russian presence
like in case of army commanders
as Stone explains on page-24-25
:--
Stone states that even entry into
General staff required money !
(Page-26 )
Stone identified Russian military
chief Sukhomlinov (Page-28) as a

54. 54
54
reactionary and one who
sabotaged Russian General Staff:-
-
Stones observations (page-37)
are interesting .Like Russians
failed to reduce their 8 gun
batteries to 6 guns till 1915 due
to costs and Russian quota per
artillery gun was far lower than
French or German :--

55. 55
55
Stone thus explains that
Sukhomlinov alongwith General
Danilov improved Russian plans
and rewrote them with a major
offensive in East Prussia, but
notes that Sukhomlinov was
sabotaged and finally Russian
army adopted a compromise plan
which led to Russian defeat in
East Prussia. (page-40) :--

56. 56
56
Stone analysed that tangibly
Russian Army ad vastly improved
and was at par with German
Army but as discussed above was
handicapped by bad planning
(Page-41) :--
On page 42-43 Stone makes a
very penetrating comparison

57. 57
57
between German , Russian and
French armies :--
Stones detailed analysis of
German artillery superiority on
page 43 is also vert interesting :--

58. 58
58
On page 70 Stone plays down
Tannenberg which is bad history

59. 59
59
and one cannot agree with him :-
-
Regarding Tannenberg Stone has
nothing new to add, nor any
brilliant analysis.Interestingly he
acknowledges Churchills book on
Eastern front but pays it left
handed compliments, although
Churchills descriptions and
analysis of battles in that book
are far superior to Stones.

60. 60
60
Regarding the famous shell
shortage issue Stones analysis is
that no on had foreseen the
length of WW One (Page-152) :--
However on page-154 Stone
dismisses the much exaggerated
Russian claim that Russian defeat
occurred because of massive
German superiority in artillery :--

61. 61
61
On page 155 Stone analyses
Russian excuses of shell shortage
as false and exaggerated :--
In case of rifles shortage Stone
blames foreign firms particularly
American on page 159 :--

62. 62
62
Regarding artillery shells also
Stone blames foreign firms
where Russia had placed orders
on page 160 :--
In chapter 8 Stone analyses that
Russian Army was breaking and
the issue of shell shortages was
only a small part of the whole
story (page- 173) :--

63. 63
63
Stone thus sums up on the same
page :--
Stone thinks that it was the
massive expansion of the Russian
Army that made it unwieldy and
impossible to control and this led
to Russian military collapse in
1917 (page-174) :--

64. 64
64
Stones description about bias in
promoting talented men from
ranks in Imperial Russian army is
also interesting (page-175 )

65. 65
65
On page 224 Stone notes that
foundation for a successful war
effort had been laid :--
On page 226 Stone dismisses the
contention that conscription
caused Russias problems :--

66. 66
66
On page 302 Stone discusses the
paradoxical position that Russia
actually experienced great

67. 67
67
economic growth during the war
:--
Stone discusses Russian taxation
system on page 308 but fails to
stress in detail on the fact how
the governments withdrawal

68. 68
68
from Vodka monopoly affected
Russian economy :-- (page-308)
David R Stone , another credible
author takes a different view of
vodka monopoly discontinuation
on page-167 of his book :--

69. 69
69
The book has no conclusion ,
much data but inconclusive.
In the end we are still forming
conclusions in a situation where
the author has nothing to offer.

70. 70
70

71. 71
71
This is a relatively new book
published in 2004.
I was disappointed on pages 172
and 173 of this book with the
pointless hairsplitting of the
author when indulging in the
exercise to prove German
general Max Hoffman a liar while
discussing the alleged feud
between Rennenkampf and
Samsonov :--

72. 72
72
As a military history enthusiast I
would term the above exercise a
waste of time since Tannenberg

73. 73
73
would have occurred even if this
was the case.Only an American
can waste so much time !
Showalter indulges in pointless
discussions as on page 173 :--
There is no doubt that Germany
was far more advanced as
compared to Russia in terms of
military development just like
Europeans were 200 years ahead

74. 74
74
of Indians when they fought and
conquered India in the period
1740-1849 !
Why Showalter has to indulge in
these pointless theatrics is a
mystery. Who he is trying to
impress is also perplexing !
Anecdotally this book is
interesting ,but goes into too
many unnecessary details , which
are cumbersome , unless you are
stranded in a remote mountain
valley for many weeks and only
have showalters book to read:--
(page 195)

75. 75
75
Cavalry in WW One was a dying
army but our author wastes too
much energy in discussing its role
and employment (page-192 ) :--

76. 76
76
The book is very interesting if you
have ample time to read and
goes into immense details
.However not suitable for a
serious student of military history
who wants a long view from a
vantage point.
In chapter ten titled “
Opportunities and Illusions” our
author starts downplaying the
battles significance which is an
exercise in leisure an author
sitting in the comfort of his north
American hope can indulge in.

77. 77
77
Thus on page – our author states
:--
On page 400 Showalters analysis
is myopic where he dismisses the
glaring differences between
Russian and German armies :--

78. 78
78
Russian army was at least 50
years behind German army in
quality of development and had
suffered a catastrophic military
defeat just nine years back.It was
in a stage of reorganization when
WW One broke out and was far
inferior to German army, but our
brilliant American author keeps
on refuting this fact.
Showalters snide remarks about
Churchills book are in bad taste
and out of place. (Page- 403)

79. 79
79
His terming winston churchills till
to date classic book as some relic
of the past is a false and
ridiculous claim far divorced from
reality.
Similarly Showalters leg pulling
and running down of Max

80. 80
80
Hoffman is in bad taste and was
not required:--
On page 427 Showalters outburst
and condemnation of Von
Francois is also uncalled for.One
fails to understand what is wrong
with Showalters ?

81. 81
81
To conclude Showalters book is
interesting , but too many details
and distracting.Lastly his rants
and jibes against Churchill
,Hoffman and above all Von
Francois are in bad taste.

82. 82
82

83. 83
83
The most interesting summing up
in this by Prof Hew Strachan is on
page 303 :--
On page 316 Strachan makes an
interesting observation :--

84. 84
84
This takes us to a great paradox
in history.What is seen as
irrelevant or insignificant
sometime becomes the most
central issue.

85. 85
85
Thus the German victory at
Tannenberg did more
psychological damage to Russian
armys credibility than any other
battle in history.
Professor Strachans analysis is
logical, accurate and precise and
we do not find Showalters
pointless and unnecessary
acerbity in his language :-- (page-
323)

86. 86
86
Instead of running down
Hoffman or wasting his energy on
whether Rennenkampf and
Samsonov fought in Russo
Japanese war ,Professor Strachan
writes fluently and outstandingly
and it is a treat reading his
analysis.
Strachans description is precise
and to the point (page-325)

87. 87
87
On page 334 Professor Strachan
hits the nail on the head in
assessing the psychological
significance of Tannenberg :--
Strachans conclusions about
Russians on the same page are
equally valid and profound
writing :--

88. 88
88
On page-335 Prof Strachan
brilliantly sums up the crux of the
malady inflicting Russian military
leadership :--
It is a treat reading Strachans
summing ups , I must confess.

89. 89
89
Strachans summing up of Austro
Hunagarian military boss Conrad
is also brilliant on page -348 :--
His comparisons of Austro
Hungarians and Russians like on
page 351 are also most thought
provoking :--

90. 90
90
On page 359 Professor Strachan
brilliantly describes the dilemmas
confronting Moltke the Younger
:--
Strachans summing up of
difference between eastern and
western front on page 373 is also
profound and precise :--

91. 91
91

92. 92
92
This sums up this short book
which is basically a primer for the
layman readers interested in
reading about the battles of the
eastern front in WW One.

93. 93
93

94. 94
94

95. 95
95

96. 96
96

97. 97
97

98. 98
98

99. 99
99

100. 100
100

101. 101
101

102. 102
102

103. 103
103

104. 104
104

105. 105
105

106. 106
106

107. 107
107

108. 108
108

109. 109
109

110. 110
110

111. 111
111

112. 112
112

113. 113
113

114. 114
114

115. 115
115

116. 116
116

117. 117
117

118. 118
118

119. 119
119

120. 120
120