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Through German Eyes: The British and the Somme 1916 (Phoenix Press) Paperback – March 1, 2022

by Christopher Duffy (Author)

4.2 46 ratings

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The key battle of the First World War from the German point of view

The Battle of the Somme has an enduring legacy, the image established by Alan Clark of 'lions led by donkeys': brave British soldiers sent to their deaths by incompetent generals. However, from the German point of view the battle was a disaster. Their own casualties were horrendous. The Germans did not hold the (modern) view that the British Army was useless. As Christopher Duffy reveals, they had great respect for the British forces and German reports shed a fascinating light on the volunteer army recruited by General Kitchener.

The German view of the British Army has never been made public until now. Their typically diligent reports have lain undisturbed in obscure archives until unearthed by Christopher Duffy. The picture that emerges is a far cry from 'Blackadder': the Germans developed an increasing respect for the professionalism of the British Army. And the fact that every British soldier taken prisoner still believed Britain would win the war gave German intelligence teams their first indication that their Empire would go down to defeat.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Christopher Duffy's subtle and intelligent book... is a refreshing addition to the literature of the Western Front experience―Patrick Bishop

Duffy's book is crisply written and an easy read―SCOTSMAN

Subtle and intelligent―DAILY TELEGRAPH

It is difficult to understate the importance of this book to our understanding of the Western Front in the First World War ... Exploiting both archival and published German-language material, Professor Duffy has produced a richly detailed, scholarly and immensely readable study of a vital but neglected subject ... THROUGH GERMAN EYES shows Christopher Duffy, one of the world's leading military historians, at the very top of his form. Every subsequent historian of the First World War will be forced to take account of his conclusions―BRITISH ARMY REVIEW

Not another comprehensive history of the Battle of the Somme, but a look at it from the German point of view―BELFAST TELEGRAPH

Excellent ... fascinating first-hand reports ... enlightening―LITERARY REVIEW

About the Author

After obtaining his doctorate at Oxford, Christopher Duffy divided his time between researching history and teaching officer cadets and student officers at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst and the Army Staff College. From 1996 to 2001 he was Research Professor in the History of War at De Montfort University. Since 2002 he has devoted himself to writing, combating development on the field of Culloden (1746), and work in support of witnesses as a volunteer in the Court Witness Service. He is the author of some twenty books, including The Army of Frederick the Great and The '45. Fluent in six languages, he is an acknowledged expert on the Austrian and German armies from the eighteenth century to 1945, and his work on European military history of the eighteenth century has won him international renown.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Weidenfeld & Nicolson; paperback / softback edition (March 1, 2022)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 392 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0753822024
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0753822029
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.13 x 1 x 7.75 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #3,111,078 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #5,239 in World War I History (Books)
- #6,079 in French History (Books)
- #8,744 in German History (Books)

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4.2 46 ratings

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D. Owen

Very Good, No Complaints

Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2009

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The title says it all. This is not a book on the Somme that focuses solely on what units did what, where they did it, how they did it, etc. It truly is a window into the German thoughts about the battle. Many of the book's sources are directly from German intelligence interrogations and subsequent briefs prepared by German intelligence officers. The book also gives the reader a quick background on the current state of the armies on each side on the eve of battle. The book ends with several chapters on artillery, airpower, etc. used during the battle. It will probably be best to read this book after reading a more detailed book on the Somme battle (Gilbert's book on the Somme is very good).

5 people found this helpful

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Bernard Kemp

On the receiving end

Reviewed in the United States on June 13, 2008

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Some of the reviews and comments on this book promised it to be something different from what it is. They suggested it would be an analysis of the German high command's reaction to the British campaign.

However, the book is primarily what its title says: a description and analysis of the British campaign - its methods, tactics and capabilities - as seen from the German perspective. You might call it a review of the performance of German military intelligence. As with many other aspects of the war, it is striking how modern were the methods and goals of this organisation.

There are detailed descriptions of all the significant actions in the campaign. In this area, the book goes over ground that has been covered by others, so I skipped through some of it, as my prime interest lies elsewhere; but this is not a criticism of the book. There are also descriptions of the opposing armies' composition, in terms of the origin of the troops, their weaponry and organisation, and detailed reviews of certain important features of the campaign such as the use of tanks and the contribution of the Royal Flying Corps.

The work is a product of thorough scholarship, easy to read, perhaps a bit neutral in tone. There are many interesting, informative and sometimes amusing snippets of information. The British come out of it looking pretty good in terms of their tactical effectiveness which only increases one's despair when one considers the bungling of their high command.

12 people found this helpful

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Writing Historian

Interesting Account of the British from a German Perspective

Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2010

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I would like to echo the reviewers who rated this book highly. Duffy does not duplicate Jack Sheldon's work on World War One battles as recounted by German participants. As noted in the review title, this book focuses on the British Army as viewed by the Germans. While the Somme is notorious for the horrific slaughter on 1 July 1916, Duffy shows that the British learned quickly (more so than World War 2?) and became quite dogged opponents in the eyes of the German Army. Highly recommended even for those who are not particularly interested in World War One.

3 people found this helpful

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Bayard B.

Excellent! Describes British and German armies' views of each other, combats, campaign in general.

Reviewed in the United States on January 23, 2021

This is an excellent book on the famous (or infamous) Somme battle and campaign in 1916. It's not entirely written from the German viewpoint. The British Army did most the the attacking or offensive actions and the book discusses the British planning and attacks. Chapters 1, 2, and 3 describe the British Army organization and approach to battle and the German and British army leaderships' and soldiers' views of each other.

Part 4 contains six chapters (approximately 60 pages) on weaponry used in the Somme battles: machine guns, mortars, gas, artillery, tanks, airplanes. The final chapter "The Reckoning" describes the overall effects of the British superiority in manpower and supplies in general, especially artillery and shells. It was a battle of material and human attrition, with all the negative implications that the phrase implies. It's written as more of a British than a German assessment, though. By the middle of 1916, the German high command realized that they were suffering a slow but inevitable decline in both numbers of soldiers and material.

In my opinion, the best overall book on the Somme battle remains "Somme" by Lyn Macdonald (1983).

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Monty Rainey

A Fresh Look at the Great War.

Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2006

Those of us readers who cannot seem to quench our thirst of knowledge of the Great War have reason to celebrate of late, as we have been fortunate to have received a large number of highly gifted writers who have, in recent months, undertaken the daunting challenge of presenting the Great War to us as never before. In this recent work, THROUGH GERMAN EYES: THE BRITISH AND THE SOMME 1916, Christopher Duffy presents Bavarian military records and archives hidden away for over three quarters of a century.

At the initial battle of the Somme on July1, 1916, the British suffered their worst military defeat in their storied history. Duffy's account shows how this defeat destroyed the Prussian view of the British army. The German upper class already held low perceptions of their British counterparts, and the Somme defeat of the British led to further underestimation of their new adversaries.

Does this all sound a bit convoluted? After all, if the British suffered their worst defeat in their history, losing over 60,000 men, and the Germans had underestimated them, how could that all be bad for Germany? After that tumultuous first day of battle, the British would regroup and regenerate their resolve and over the next four and half months, the Battle ground of the Somme would claim the lives of over a half million Germans. Troop strength the Germans could not afford to lose. British innovation would also weigh heavily on Germany with the first combined efforts and utilization of tanks and aircraft to support the British trench warriors.

The ultimate British victory at the Somme proved catastrophic for Germany at Verdun as well. The lose of so much manpower and equipment forced Germany into halting their action there, as well as canceling other planned offensives.

Ultimately, Duffy's book will make another fine addition to your World War I library. This book is fast paced and quite readable. Duffy, as well as a handful of other current day writers are to be commended for tilling up new ground on a catastrophic war fought nearly a century ago. Just when one thinks there is nothing new under the sun, a book like this comes along.

Monty Rainey

[...]

37 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Giovanni

Splendid book

Reviewed in Italy on June 7, 2023

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Splendid book

GWG

Not quite what I had expected

Reviewed in Canada on March 22, 2017

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First hand accounts are always better, and there was some interesting stuff I hadn't known earlier. I was hoping for more German papers though, it's mostly about captured British troops. Well written however, easy going. Cheesy drawings, I hope they insert real photos instead next time. The maps are ok.

Charles Vasey

The Other Side Of The Hill

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 3, 2009

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As is often the case with books by Christopher Duffy I fair whizzed through the book which I found exactly at the level I wanted. I was not looking for a comprehensive history of the Somme, or for more breast-beating or for more revisionism. My aim was to see, as the book's title says, the campaign through German eyes. Duffy does an excellent job of showing how the Germans regarded the British and (indeed) how the British regarded themselves. This is dealt with both in general matters (including the now lost Anglo-German links, both family and Germans living and working here) in attitudes and in perceived strengths.

He then treats each phase of the long campaign in sufficient detail for its outlines to be clear and for the effect on and reaction of the German Army to be fully described. The slaughter of closely-packed units may be a Somme memory in Britain but here we see the German equivalents; the mud, the bombardments and the RFC attacking them for most of battle until the German airforce made its reappearance. Particularly effective use is made of the interrogation reports of British prisoners. No need to torture when a kind ear and a warm beverage is given to battered prisoners.

This book does not make the British (and I use British to encompass all the imperial troops) sacrifice any the less but it demonstrates that the grass was not greener on the other side.

8 people found this helpful

Richard Sewell

A painful learning curve.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 8, 2016

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Having recently seen Peter Barton's BBC 3-part programme on the Somme, which also uses German source material, I feel that the two go well together – in fact, this book could be seen as a very good introduction to the campaign in general, as it's not exclusively through German eyes.

I feel, however, that Christopher Duffy did not explore fully the change in German tactics that came with the change of leadership on the German side, ie the development of a strength in depth strategy. Duffy presents well the information gleaned from British POWs and above all he makes the point that the British were learning all the time and in most cases applying these lessons more successfully than they thought. It could be argued that they were too confident in July and not confident enough in September, when cracks did open up in the German defence system.

It's also interesting to note an implied point by Duffy, that, irrespective of where this happened, the British Army's first major offensive against a well-entrenched and experienced enemy was always going to be a huge and painful learning curve – not least of all because lessons were apparently not learned from the French experiences of 1914-15 – it's interesting here to note the contemporary German view of the comparative fighting skills of the two Allied countries, whereby the French came out significantly better. Yet it was the British who brought in a game-changer in the shape of tanks and it's not contentious to say that by the end of this campaign, the British Army had painfully undergone a process of battlefield professionalisation.

Duffy also makes a very valid point at the end, when he states that, irrespective of the disparity in matériel and equipment (the Germans were very complimentary of British standards of equipment), the German Army felt that they had the upper hand in experience and morale – but not by the end of the campaign. The British concept of "Not bad for a 1st innings" may apply here – much like the Arnhem para, who when complimented by a German re street-fighting skills, replied "We'll do better next time."

As others have said, this is a valuable addition to the body of knowledge re the Somme – but we do need an English language account of the French experience on the Somme, which is sorely neglected by the Anglocentric nature of most of the publications.

One person found this helpful

Mr. Vl Hughes

Not Really "The Somme Through German Eyes"

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 2, 2017

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Mixed feelings about this book. I enjoyed reading it but at the same time felt disappointed by the overall content within when compared to its title. That is because I feel it has been mislabelled somewhat. The title ‘Through German Eyes – The British & The Somme’ led me to believe it would be a history of the battle from the other side of the trenches plus their perceptions of and reactions to the British efforts. Although there were moments of this within the pages, I Instead sensed there was something of a mish-mash of approaches to perhaps multiple ideas the author, Christopher Duffy may have had.

Most of the ‘Through German Eyes’ pages in the book are on the German interpretations of British POW interviews. There is very little indeed of what Falkenhayn or later generals might have been thinking. Little on divisional commanders and regimental or battalion officers thoughts and indeed the foot sloggers thoughts too. There is also precious little on German plans for response to each segment of the campaign. Yes there is the odd interjection, but most of the information for the first quarter of the book was the POW transcripts.

The book then moves on to the campaign itself with chapters on the opening day, the days afterwards, the on-going campaign and then final flings. Although Mr Duffy does write about German counter-attacks and actions here and there, it is still a British-centric rendition. The ‘rendition’ isn’t bad though and the maps albeit not super-detailed are not bad either. The brigades are nicely plotted as are trench-lines, towns, woods and terrain levels and with the text the attacks can be very well followed. Some use could be gained from these parts of the book for the wargamers amongst you. One map even details the routes each individual numbered tank took and where it gave up the ghost which was informative.

After these British-centric campaign chapters, there are a few chapters cobbled together on various British arms and weapons and how the Germans perceived the effectiveness of each subject. Again, these chapters seem to have been just thrown in at the end and sit oddly with what went before. There isat the back a nice OOB of both sides with not only the brigades shown, but the regiments they consisted of too. Always nice to see where your own locals are.

Where German views were considered it was interesting to read reports written at the time. The RFC came out very well with their excellent ground-support and ever improving artillery spotting. The German intel considering it far more effective and daring than their own. The British grenade or ‘bomb’ (some stories of expert throwers from the Cricket world) being considered more deadly than their potato-masher. The tanks and the furore & consternation they threw up at the time provides good reading. Trying to put oneself into a German infantryman’s position as he first saw it easily provides the ‘what the hell would I do’ scenario. There seems to have been no agreed way of how to deal with these by campaign end although an artillery shot if the gun could get in position, or if one was even available was seen to be the way to go. The communication between British infantry & artillery was something that apparently noticeably improved as well as the campaign went on. So much so that the Germans concluded that their own infantry/artillery relationship needed to be looked up and updated. And on the Tommy himself? A stubborn so-and-so, generally lacking individual initiative but an ardent foe to dislodge, high morale and belief in victory (even in captivity), plenty of them and getting better as time goes on.

Contrary to that old advert - This book doesn't really do what it says on the tin. However, I enjoyed the read and the text & maps went well together and aided understanding. But should you plan to get this, be aware that the title may suggest something that it’s not.

4 people found this helpful

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