{"product_id":"verdun-the-longest-battle-of-the-great-war-9780199316892","title":"Verdun: The Longest Battle of the Great War","description":"\u003cp\u003eAt seven oclock in the morning on February 21  1916  the ground in northern France began to shake. For the next ten hours  twelve hundred German guns showered shells on a salient in French lines. The massive weight of explosives collapsed dugouts  obliterated trenches  severed communication wires  and drove men mad. As the barrage lifted  German troops moved forward  darting from shell crater to shell crater. The battle of Verdun had begun.  In Verdun  historian Paul Jankowski provides the definitive account of the iconic battle of World War I. A leading expert on the French past  Jankowski combines the best of traditional military history-its emphasis on leaders  plans  technology  and the contingency of combat-with the newer social and cultural approach  stressing the soldiers experience  the institutional structures of the military  and the impact of war on national memory. Unusually  this book draws on deep research in French and German archives; this mastery of sources in both languages gives Verdun unprecedented authority and scope. In many ways  Jankowski writes  the battle represents a conundrum. It has an almost unique status among the battles of the Great War; and yet  he argues  it was not decisive  sparked no political changes  and was not even the bloodiest episode of the conflict. It is said that Verdun made France  he writes; but the question should be  What did France make of Verdun? Over time  it proved to be the last great victory of French arms  standing on their own. And  for France and Germany  the battle would symbolize the terror of industrialized warfare  \"a technocratic Moloch devouring its children \" where no advance or retreat was possible  yet national resources poured in ceaselessly  perpetuating slaughter indefinitely.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45651959513141,"sku":"ByrdShop_0199316899","price":35.47,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780199316892.jpg?v=1781847659","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/verdun-the-longest-battle-of-the-great-war-9780199316892","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}