The First Battle of the Marne was one of the most pivotal battles in history. Fought outside Paris in September 1914, it turned the tide of the German invasion of France, and robbed Kaiser Wilhelm II of his best chance of winning the First World War. The battle began when the French and British armies launched a massive counter-offensive, and it ended - after five, tense days of fluctuating fortunes - in a German retreat. The so-called 'miracle of the Marne' was among the most crucial episodes of the war, and yet no complete, in-depth guide to the battlefield has been available until now in English. Andrew Uffindell begins his guidebook with a gripping account of the battle, followed by a series of easy-to-follow tours of the battlefield. Each tour covers a particular sector in detail, using vivid eyewitness accounts to reveal what the fighting was like for the men in the front line. This unique and highly illustrated book enables readers to explore the battlefield and retrace the course of those dramatic events for themselves. It gives directions to dozens of museums, cemeteries, and monuments, including the memorials to the famous 'taxis of the Marne'. It will be fascinating reading for anyone interested in the Great War, and an essential companion for visitors keen to see the actual terrain over which the battle was fought. AUTHOR: Andrew Uffindell is a leading British military historian and an expert on the modern military history of France. He has been visiting First World War battlefields for over twenty-five years. In order to compile this definitive guide to the First Battle of the Marne, he has carried out in-depth archive research and has explored every corner of the battlefield near Paris. Among his many publications are Napoleon's Immortals, The National Army Museum Book of Wellington's Armies, which was part of a series that collectively won the Royal United Services Institute's Duke of Westminster Medal for Military Literature, Napoleon 1814: The Defence of France and Napoleon's Chicken Marengo: Creating the Myth of the Emperor's Favourite Dish. 100 illustrations
