No Man's Land (Men at War)

From freezing infantrymen huddled in bloodied trenches on the front lines to intricate political maneuvering & tense strategy sessions in European capitals, historian Toland tells of the final year of WWI. As 1918 opened, the Allies & Central Powers remained locked in a desperate, bloody stalemate, despite the deaths of millions of soldiers over the previous three & a half years. The arrival of the Americans by the middle of the year turned the tide of war, resulting in an Allied victory in November. In these pages participants on both sides, from enlisted men to generals & prime ministers to monarchs, vividly recount the battles, sensational events & behind-the-scenes strategies that shaped the climactic, terrifying year. It's all here: the horrific futility of going over the top into a hail of bullets in no man's land; the enigmatic death of the legendary German ace, the Red Baron; Operation Michael, a punishing German attack in the spring; the Americans' long-awaited arrival in June; the murder of Russian Czar Nicholas II & his family, the growing fear of a communist menace in the east; & the armistice on 11/11. The different points of view of Germans, Americans, British, French & Russians add depth, complexity & understanding to the tragedies & triumphs of the War to End All Wars.