No Mans Land, John Toland
No Mans Land, John Toland
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No Man's Land
1918, the Last Year of the Great War

Author: John Toland

Narrator: Grover Gardner

Unabridged: 25 hr 5 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/26/2017


Synopsis

From freezing infantrymen huddled in bloodied trenches on the front lines to intricate political maneuvering and tense strategy sessions in European capitals, noted historian John Toland tells of the unforgettable final year of the First World War. As 1918 opened, the Allies and Central Powers remained locked in a desperate, bloody stalemate, despite the deaths of millions of soldiers over the previous three and a half years. The arrival of the Americans “over there” 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 and prime ministers to monarchs, vividly recount the battles, sensational events, and 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 and his family, the growing fear of a communist menace in the east; and the armistice on November 11. The different points of view of Germans, Americans, British, French, and Russians add depth, complexity, and understanding to the tragedies and triumphs of the War to End All Wars.

About John Toland

John Toland (1912–2004) was an award-winning American author and one of the most widely read military historians of the twentieth century. His most well-known work is perhaps The Rising Sun, winner of the 1971 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction and the first book in English to tell the story of the Pacific War from the Japanese perspective. Although primarily an author of historical nonfiction, he also wrote novels, plays, and short stories. Among his published books were four New York Times bestsellers: But Not in Shame, The Last Hundred Days, Adolf Hitler, and Infamy.

About Grover Gardner

Grover Gardner is an award-winning narrator with over a thousand titles to his credit. Named one of the “Best Voices of the Century” and a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine, he has won three prestigious Audie Awards.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Karl on August 20, 2021

Toland, a world-class historian, recounts the last year of the Great War. Every move by every key general and politician in four countries (they kept a lot of diaries and notes) and sprinkled with the experiences of front-line soldiers and diplomats. The book is too long, the detail too much (partic......more

Goodreads review by Carol Bakker on September 19, 2018

Barbara Tuchman's Guns of August is indespensible for understanding the elements that culminated in the outset of The Great War. I read No Man's Land to understand how the war ended with that oft-misunderstood term, an armistice. I had thought that WWI was simply a four-year stalemate over the same......more

Goodreads review by Arthur on April 09, 2022

What i like about this book - it soldified the case against the premise that the German military wasnt defeated in ww1, fighting back against the longstanding claim that it was only a political defeat. It makes a compelling case that the German navy was already in a state of mutiny, workers were alr......more

Goodreads review by 'Aussie Rick' on November 30, 2009

This book was one of the first books that I read covering the First World War and I found it to be a great account and very easy to read.......more

Goodreads review by Erik on March 27, 2013

John Toland's books are a safe bet for engaging histories. This one covers the last year of the first world war from the perspectives of the major states--Germany, France, Russia, the UK and the USA--involved and from individuals both in the trenches and in the halls of power. I've read a number of......more


Quotes

“Toland weaves the epic tapestry of popular history, meshing together thousands of details into monumental narratives of wartime drama.” Chicago Tribune, praise for the author