Field Marshal Earl Haig's reputation continues to arouse as much interest and controversy as ever. This volume represents the collaboration of two leading historical societies, The British Commission for Military History and The Douglas Haig Fellowship. Leading historians have produced a comprehensive and fascinating study of the most significant and frequently debated aspects of Haig's momentous career.

By the middle of 1918 the British Army had successfully mastered the concept of ’all arms’ warfare on the Western Front. This doctrine, integrating infantry, artillery, armoured vehicles and - crucially - air power, was to prove highly effective and formed the basis of major military operations for the next hundred years. Yet, whilst much has been written on the utilisation of ground forces, the air element still tends to be studied in isolation from the army as a whole. In order to move beyond the usual 'aircraft and aces' approach, this book explores the conceptual origins of the control of the air and the role of the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) within the British army. In so doing it addresses four key themes. First, it explores and defines the most fundamental air power concept - the control of the air - by examining its conceptual origins before and during the First World War. Second, it moves beyond the popular history of air power during the First World War to reveal the complexity of the topic. Third, it reintegrates the study of air power during the First World War, specifically that of the RFC, into the strategic, operational, organisational, and intellectual contexts of the era, as well as embedding the study within the respective scholarly literatures of these contexts. Fourth, the book reinvigorates an entrenched historiography by challenging the usually critical interpretation of the RFC’s approach to the control of the air, providing new perspectives on air power during the First World War. This includes an exploration of the creation of the RAF and its impact on the development of air power concepts.

Marshal Foch, the Generalissimo of the Allied Armies during the last stages of the First World War, commenting on the victories won during the Hundred Days when the Germans were driven back on the Western Front, said ‘Never at any time in history has the British army achieved greater results in attack than in this unbroken offensive’. The scale, speed and success of this offensive have provided historians with fertile ground for interpretation and debate. How did the British Expeditionary Force, having endured the bitter disappointments and heavy losses at Aubers Ridge, Loos, the Somme, Passchendaele, Cambrai and during the German spring offensives of 1918 turn the tide of the war and comprehensively defeat the enemy in the field? This is the fascinating question that Michael Senior tackles in this lucid and thought-provoking study. He considers the reasons for the stunning British victories and examines the factors that underpinned the eventual success of the BEF. In particular he shows how tactical and technical developments evolved during the course of the war and merged in a way that gave the British a decisive advantage during the final months of the fighting. Innovations in guns and gunnery, in shells, aircraft and tanks, and a massive increase in industrial output, played key parts, as did the continuous process of adaptation, experimentation and invention that went on throughout the war years. The result was an army that could take advantage of the unprecedented opportunity presented by the failure of the German spring offensive of 1918. Michael Senior provides a challenging and controversial analysis of the underlying reasons for the success of the BEF. It is essential reading for anyone who is keen to learn about the extraordinary development of the British army throughout the war – and to understand why, and how, the Germans were beaten.

Religion did much to shape contemporary British opinion and behaviour during the First and Second World Wars, but it featured rather less in the initial historiography of either conflict. The situation has changed considerably in the past half-century, with a steadily increasing number of academic and popular outputs on the religious aspects of the wars. As key milestones, in connection with the centenary of the First World War and the eightieth anniversary of the Second World War, have occurred or approach, it seems an appropriate time to take bibliographical stock. This volume is the first to offer an in-depth listing of modern literature, in English and other European languages, on British religion and the First and Second World Wars, both on the home front and in combat zones. Coverage extends to Judaism and alternative religion, as well as Christianity. More than 1,200 items are included, comprising monographs, book chapters, journal articles, and postgraduate theses. They are arranged by subjects, in separate sections on each war, with cross-references and a cumulative index of personal names. Carefully compiled over several years by an accomplished religious historian and bibliographer, the work will be an indispensable reference tool to those embarking on investigations into the religious landscape of Britain during the World Wars, and those who wish to discover what has been written about their chosen field to date. It will also help identify gaps in scholarship and encourage researchers to try and fill them.

David Lloyd George left a profound political legacy, despite being described by the wife of his successor, Herbert Asquith, as a 'gambler without foresight'. He is, of course, best known as the Prime Minister who led Britain to victory in World War I, but his contribution to domestic politics was similarly impressive. As Chancellor of the Exchequer he introduced pensions and national insurance against sickness and unemployment, while as Prime Minister he extended democracy by giving votes to women. Yet Lloyd George was compromised by his flaws as a human being. Vain, cruel, capricious and dishonest, at times his notoriously corrupt nature threatened to damage the British political system. Providing a unique new perspective on one of the most phenomenally-talented - but also one of the most phenomenally-flawed - of British Prime Ministers, this book will be essential reading for anyone interested in modern British politics and history.

Sir Richard Haking commanded the British XI Corps from 1915 to 1918 mainly in France, but also in Italy (December 1917-March 1918). This first study of Haking takes the form of a review and analysis of his career as a Corps Commander, placing the activities of XI Corps in the context of events on the Western and Italian Fronts. It has three aims. First, it is intended to make a balanced assessment of Haking as a Corps Commander in the light of an established popular reputation, which places him firmly in the donkey category of First World War generals. The second aim is to examine how Haking carried out his role as a Corps Commander, and the third aim is to relate the experiences of Haking and XI Corps to a number of important topics connected with the conduct of the war: trench warfare on the Western Front, with particular reference to the much-criticized attack at Fromelles in July 1916; the British involvement in Italy; the relationship with the Portuguese Expeditionary Force in France; and the British victories in 1918. Reference is made to several key operating issues such as command and control on the Western Front; the learning curve in the BEF; the doctrine of the offensive; and the British policy on defense in depth. Each is discussed taking account of Hakings experiences as XI Corps Commander. The study concludes, contrary to the general view, that, overall, Haking made a positive contribution to the conduct of the war, and that his dismal reputation is largely unjustified.

This “well-researched” biography “brings home something of what it was to be an army chaplain amid the battles in France and Flanders” (Methodist Recorder). Between 1916 and 1918, chaplain David Railton supported the soldiers on the Western Front in their worst moments. He buried the fallen, comforted the wounded, wrote to the families of the missing and killed, and helped the survivors to remember and mark the loss of their comrades so that they were able to carry on. He was with his men at many battles, including High Wood, the Aisne, and Passchendaele. He received the Military Cross for rescuing an officer and two men under heavy fire on the Somme. It was Railton’s idea to bring home the body of an unidentified fallen comrade from the battlefields to be buried in Westminster Abbey, and on Armistice Day 1920, he was there in the Abbey as the Unknown Warrior was laid to rest with full honors. Although suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, he returned to work as a parish priest in Margate, where he took particular interest in supporting ex-servicemen who had returned home to the aftermath of a terrible war and crippling unemployment. This is the first book to explore David Railton’s life and “the padre’s flag” he used as an altar cloth and shroud throughout the war—the flag that was consecrated a year after the burial of the Unknown Warrior and hangs in Westminster Abbey to this day.