Instrument of War

The German Army 1914-18

By: Dennis E. Showalter

Narrated by: Julian Elfer

Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

Drawing on more than a half-century of research and teaching, Dennis Showalter presents a fresh perspective on the German Army during World War I. Showalter surveys an army at the heart of a national identity, driven by - yet also defeated by - warfare in the modern age, that struggled to capitalize on its victories, and ultimately forgot the lessons of its defeat.

Exploring the internal dynamics of the German Army, detailing how the soldiers coped with the many new forms of warfare, Showalter shows how the army's institutions responded and how Germany itself was changed by war. He goes on to detail the major campaigns on the Western and Eastern Fronts and the forgotten war fought in the Middle East and Africa, revealing operational strategy, the complexities of campaigns of movement versus static trench warfare, and the changes in warfare.

©2016 Dennis Showalter (P)2018 Tantor

Remarkable!

Mr. Showalter gives us an amazing account of the German Empire in the first World War. Detailed accounts of troops and Field Marshals leading up to the war and all of the major battles, personal struggles of the troops in combat, effects of the vast amount of weaponry used for the first time in such a war, and it goes into some of the politics of the war that led to its end. Read this book, you won't be disappointed!

Good, never great, always enjoyable

this is a solid history of the imperial German army 1914-1918. it is strongly focused on the western front although there is appreciable time and effort given to the eastern front as well. salonika, East Africa, Italy, are mentioned in passing only. the author has some unusual prejudices, like a tangible scorn for tanks. overall though, there is a good survey of the material with enough personal flavor to hold a reader's interest. the book has very little by way of a thesis statement- it's a useful and enjoyable overview, and it breaks no new ground.
good narration and the narrator can handle the German and French terms and locations well.

German Side Of WW1

Excellent book. German Armies War, just a dash of Navy. Not a General History Of All sides. Some new material for me at least. Well reasoned and written

Interesting, very good written and explained

Really enjoyed this thoroughly informative book about the German army in world war one. I would recommend if you have any interest in the topic. Detailed and precise in it's explanations its analysis and its conclusion.

An Erudite Single-Volume Review

Perhaps the most succinct review of a subject so vast it fills multi-volume series. Of course, Showalter could have included much more, but that is not the point of this work (he has written much on the army of the Kaiserreich and I'd recommend his other books for a more granular perspective).

This book is the accumulated reflections on the First World War German military from one of the best English-language historians of the German military of the past century. Its value, therefore, is primarily in driving an understanding of larger concepts and perspectives on various debates surrounding myths of the First World War.