Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/News/December 2024/Book reviews
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Bismarck's War - Rachel Chrastil |
- By Nick-D
Bismarck's War is a history of the 1870-71 Franco-Prussian War. Written by the American academic historian Rachel Chrastil, it covers the military, political and social aspects of the conflict.
This is an impressive book. Though it's only 439 pages long, Chrastil has packed in a lot of details and she writes engagingly. She provides good coverage of the fighting and sharp analysis of the opposing militaries. Interestingly, Chrastil concludes that the pre-war Army of the Second French Empire was generally competent but failed in 1870 as a result of poor leadership, inferior artillery and bad luck. She also discusses the hastily raised forces that replaced the French Army after it was destroyed and does a good job of explaining why it was unable to defeat the much better-trained and -led German forces.
The coverage of the social and political elements of the war is a particular highlight. Chrastil concisely explains the complex political developments in France and what became Germany, including their impact on individuals. The material on how the two societies responded to the war is well done, though the coverage of developments in France is much more detailed. I found Chrastil's coverage of the war crimes on both sides to be interesting, though oddly she doesn't connect the misconduct of the German forces with the similar actions they undertook during the world wars.
The main weakness of the book is its poor maps. There's a map section at the start, but these only depict various localities. The omission of maps showing the routes taken by the armies and key battles is disappointing, especially as the key campaigns in 1870 took part in relatively obscure parts of France.
Overall, I'd strongly recommend this book.
Publishing details: Chrastil, Rachel (2024). Bismarck's War: The Franco-Prussian War and the Making of Modern Europe. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-141-99161-0.
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