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Mud, Blood and Poppycock
- Britain and the Great War
- Narrated by: Roger Davis
- Length: 18 hrs and 1 min
- Categories: History, Europe
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The German invasion of Poland on 1 September, 1939, designated as Fall Weiss (Case White), was the event that sparked the outbreak of World War II in Europe. The campaign has widely been described as a textbook example of Blitzkrieg, but it was actually a fairly conventional campaign as the Wehrmacht was still learning how to use its new Panzers and dive-bombers. The Polish military is often misrepresented as hopelessly obsolete and outclassed by the Wehrmacht, yet in fact it was well-equipped with modern weapons and armor.
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I’d hoped for more ...
- By mcfontaine on 10-07-20
Summary
The true story of how Britain won the First World War.
The popular view of the First World War remains that of Blackadder: incompetent generals sending brave soldiers to their deaths.
Alan Clark quoted a German general's remark that the British soldiers were 'lions led by donkeys'. But he made it up.
Indeed, many established 'facts' about 1914-18 turn out to be myths woven in the 1960s by young historians on the make.
Gordon Corrigan's brilliant, witty history reveals how out of touch we have become with the soldiers of 1914-18. They simply would not recognise the way their generation is depicted on TV or in Pat Barker's novels. Laced with dry humour, this will overturn everything you thought you knew about Britain and the First World War.
Gordon Corrigan reveals how the British embraced technology and developed the weapons and tactics to break through the enemy trenches.
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What listeners say about Mud, Blood and Poppycock
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Tino
- 07-02-20
disappointing
The book is supposed to bust the myths of the first world war. Instead it is a bland collection of largely uninteresting facts. the chapter on the Calvary started with a tedious section on the height of different horses before fundamentally failing to set out what myth was being busted. There were tedious sections on grenades and shells and gas none of which bust myths nor was any of it new. A lot of it was just a dull recital of facts. the book fundamentally failed to advance any new theory as to why the 1914 British Army was so ill prepared despite having just fought a very similar attritional war in South Africa - i.e the top brass were arrogant idiots. the chapter on the 'donkeys' ended so abruptly I thought the recording was wrong. it started with a section on whether the senior command were experienced enough before tediously setting out the army life length of about 40 officers. this book fails on so many levels. if anything this book reinforces the perspective, through a failure to advance any new position, that General Melchett was a very accurate portrayal.
5 people found this helpful
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- dave
- 10-01-20
A well argued rebuttal of Haig as donkey
Stout defense of Haig as modernizer, planner deliverer of victory as opposed to Butcher/Donkey. Narrator excellent. Accents very good and very subtle.
5 people found this helpful
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- Russ Gladwish
- 29-04-20
Statistics
if you love statistics, you'll love this. Some very interesting stuff here but at times I just lost interest due to repetitive statistics. Didn't hold my attention and lost track of what had been read.