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Victory to Defeat
- The British Army 1918–40
- Narrated by: Richard Dannatt
- Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins
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Summary
A compelling history of the decline of an army from the triumph of victory in 1918 to defeat in 1940 and why this happened. A salutary warning for modern Britain.
The British Army won a convincing series of victories between 1916 and 1918. But by 1939 the British Army was an entirely different animal. The hard-won knowledge, experience and strategic vision that delivered victory after victory in the closing stages of the First World War had been lost. In the inter-war years there was plenty of talking, but very little focus on who Britain might have to fight, and how. Victory to Defeat clearly illustrates how the British Army wasn’t prepared to fight a first-class European Army in 1939 for the simple reason that as a country Britain hadn’t prepared itself to do so. The failure of the army’s leadership led directly to its abysmal performance in Norway and France in 1940.
Victory to Defeat is a captivating history of the mismanagement of a war-winning army. It is also a stark warning that we neglect to understand who our enemy might be, and how to defeat him, at the peril of our country. The British Army is now to be cut to its smallest size since 1714. Are we, this book asks, repeating the same mistakes again?
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- Roy B.
- 06-12-23
The obvious detailed research undertaken in writing this book.
I was hooked on this book from the start. Sir Dannatts observations and comparisons of the pre Second World War lack of preparations following the end of the First World War to the politicians response following the fall of the old Soviet Union, are an alarm call to the Western powers. As mentioned in this book. To prevent war, ensure you are always prepared for war. One only hopes the current Minister for Defence takes time to read this book! I somehow suspect he won’t
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