This is the story of how the 38th Infantry Regiment still in training, with no combat experience, defeated two elite divisions of the Kaiser's Prussian Guard at the Marne River, saving Paris, and ensuring victory for the Allies. Lt. James Edward Moore was deployed to France in 1918 to fight in the penultimate battle that was the beginning of the end of the German offense in World War I. This is also the story of his journey from a quiet small town in West Virginia to the brutality of the battlefields of France.

A detailed, illustrated account of The First Battle of the Marne, which saved France from defeat in the First World War and led directly the establishment of the trenches. In 1914 the Germans launched an offensive that swept through Belgium and into France, threatening to crush French resistance in one fell swoop. However, through careful maneuvering and stubborn resistance, the French Army, aided by the BEF, blunted the assault, winning an important strategic victory that kept France in the war. This victory ensured that Germany would have to fight a two-front war, and the Western Front descended into the stalemate of trench warfare. One of the most important battles in the First World War, the First Battle of the Marne would be the last battle of maneuver to be seen on the Western Front for several years to come.

The First Battle of the Marne produced the so-called Miracle of the Marne, when French and British forces stopped the initial German drive on Paris in 1914. Hundreds of thousands of casualties later, with opposing forces still dug into trench lines, the Germans tried again to push their way to Paris and to victory. The Second Battle of the Marne (July 15 to August 9, 1918) marks the point at which the Allied armies stopped the massive German Ludendorff Offensives and turned to offensive operations themselves. The Germans never again came as close to Paris nor resumed the offensive. The battle was one of the first large multinational battles fought by the Allies since the assumption of supreme command by French general Ferdinand Foch. It marks the only time the French, American, and British forces fought together in one battle. A superb account of the bloody events of those fateful days, this book sheds new light on a critically important 20th-century battle.

For the first time in a generation, here is a bold new account of the Battle of the Marne, a cataclysmic encounter that prevented a quick German victory in World War I and changed the course of two wars and the world. With exclusive information based on newly unearthed documents, Holger H. Herwig re-creates the dramatic battle and reinterprets Germany’s aggressive “Schlieffen Plan” as a carefully crafted design to avoid a protracted war against superior coalitions. He paints a fresh portrait of the run-up to the Marne and puts in dazzling relief the Battle of the Marne itself: the French resolve to win, and the crucial lack of coordination between Germany’s First and Second Armies. Herwig also provides stunning cameos of all the important players, from Germany’s Chief of General Staff Helmuth von Moltke to his rival, France’s Joseph Joffre. Revelatory and riveting, this is the source on this seminal event.

Alongside maps and carefully-chosen archive photography, David Lomas explores The British Expeditionary Force's presence during the battle of Mons and thereafter. When the First World War broke out in August 1914 the Imperial German Army mistakenly assumed that the BEF – 'that contemptible little army' – would be easily defeated. They were stopped in their tracks by the numerically inferior British force, whose excellent marksmanship cost the closed packed German ranks dear. Eventually forced to fall back by overwhelming German numbers, the British carried out a masterful fighting retreat across Belgium and northern France. At Mons, nine and a half British battalions held four German divisions at bay for an entire day. This book examines not just the battle of Mons itself but also the ensuing British retreat including the actions at Le Cateau and Villers-Cotterêts.

This is the story of 61-year-old Mildred Aldrich and her experiences of the Great War. She retired to a small hill-top house called La Creste in February 1914, with views across the Marne river and valley, little realising she would become embroiled in the first major battle of the war. In spite of the danger she decided to stay and help the British soldiers. Her home was for a few days behind German lines but the British pushed the Germans into retreat and La Creste remained in British territory for the duration. They entrenched in the Marne Valley and Mildred's 'beloved panorama' as she described the view, turned into the valley of horror and death. Informed by journalist Mildred's unpublished journals and voices of those serving in the BEF, along with historical military background, this book examines events from the unique perspective of a remarkable woman who lived through them.

Michael Neiberg offers a concise history based on the latest research and insights into the soldiers, commanders, battles, and legacies of the Great War.