An extensive and well-written history of the first few months of the Great War in Europe. The author portrays both the battles and the characters effectively with gripping prose. His mastery of the topic is apparent. At times the book the difficult to put down because of the effective tension created by the author. Would recommend this book to anyone interested in military history and would definitely read another title by this author.

I have just concluded my reading of an ARC of "The Killing Season: The Autumn of 1914, Ypres and the Afternoon that Cost Germany a War," written by the noted military historian, Robert Cowley and published by Random House who graciously provided me with the ARC. It is, in my view, a "Tour de Force" in revisiting the often neglected mobile war that preceded trench warfare on the Western Front, It reads, in some ways, rather like an historiographical essay examining the current state of scholarship surrounding these events in the first few months of the war, with all of the lost opportunities that characterized that time. Those months were critical in leading to the stalemate which settled over the balance of the war until the U.S. entrance in significant numbers in 1918. The author is clearly well-versed in his sources and includes frequent critical but justified examinations of both Entente and Central Powers military doctrine and leadership as it evolved (devolved?) on the Western Front. Discussions of the partisan war, Allied propaganda and French and German stubborn persistence in half baked planning and the development of tactical doctrine is particularly illuminating. Many of you are familiar with Barbara Tuchman's "The Guns of August"; this book takes off, in great detail, precisely where the earlier text ends. It is recommended for every serious collection on World War I.

An in-depth coverage of the first few months of a war that would eventually change the face of Europe. Proposing a new event as the turning point for Germany during the war, this book is well worth a read for its fresh ideas.