David French for Oxford Goodness but this looks a dreary book, but looks are deceiving because it is one of the best summaries of the problems and solutions of the British Army in the Second World War I have read. French opens up with the received view (based on German intelligence reports and on analysis of the likes of Dupuy) that Tommy was no soldier and depended on masses of fire support. French does not disagree with elements of this picture but explains, modifies and expands it. Although Tommy could (in 1944) call on masses of div fire power old Heinz had been massing more mortars and machine-guns in his battalions for a long time hence the position in Normandy where 70% of British/Canadian infantry casualties were caused by mortars. French goes through the processes by which the British Army elected for No Drills-Strict Planning over the German choice of Many Drills-Less Planning. They recognised both that the British will never be warriors and the authoritarian streak in British society. He explains the decisions that resulted in the interesting tank designs we had, why we had less machine guns and less mortars than a German commander and why our artillery need numbers. He also mentions a number of cases where German commanders were impressed by British performance. There then follow four chapters on development (BEF, Home Army, Desert, Monty's Army) and here the themes seem to be the movement towards all-arm co-ordination (most sideways movement) and improved artillery and air support. Accepting the manpower problems French concludes that we could not have played the Germans at their own game, and that the stolid approach was where we were obliged to go. Highly recommended. Old Duffer's Book Corner Book Reviews The First Armies Verdun 1916 Russia's Civil War Luetzen 1632 Philip V of Spain The End of Chivalry Le Roi De Guerre Warships of the Napoleonic Era Cannae The Death of Anglo-Saxon England Ancient Siege Warfare War and Society in Revolutionary Europe 1770-1870 Forgotten Victory The Remaking of the English Navy Cassino: The Hollow Victory Raising Churchill's Army The Imperial War Museum Book of the War in Italy The Irish And British Wars 1637-1654 Cavaliers: The Royalist Army At War 1642-1646 Alamein Normandy 1944 Hill 112 Breaking The Panzers Béveziers (1690) Paths of Glory: The French Army 1914-18 Caesar’s Legion Operation Bluecoat Operation Epsom Marching to the Sound of Gunfire The Franco-Prussian War Robert the Bruce’s Irish Wars When Titans Clashed The Wars of Edward III Monte Cassino Under Fire The Somme Roads to Falaise Mud, Blood And Poppycock All The Kaiser’s Men Iron Hulls Iron Hearts A Noble Crusade The Pendulum of Battle: Operation Goodwood The English Resistance The Battle of Koniggrätz Pallas Armata Back to Perfidious Albion #104 Table of Contents Back to Perfidious Albion List of Issues Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List © Copyright 2004 by Charles and Teresa Vasey. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com