The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916 is the second book of Alistair Horne's trilogy; which includes The Fall of Paris and To Lose a Battle and tells the story of the great crises of the rivalry between France and Germany. The battle of Verdun lasted ten months. It was a battle in which at least 700;000 men fell; along a front of fifteen miles. Its aim was less to defeat the enemy than bleed him to death and a battleground whose once fertile terrain is even now a haunted wilderness.Alistair Horne's classic work; continuously in print for over fifty years; is a profoundly moving; sympathetic study of the battle and the men who fought there. It shows that Verdun is a key to understanding the First World War to the minds of those who waged it; the traditions that bound them and the world that gave them the opportunity. 'Verdun was the bloodiest battle in history ... The Price of Glory is the essential book on the subject' Sunday Times 'It has almost every merit ... Horne sorts out complicating issues with the greatest clarity. He has a splendid gift for depicting individuals' A.J.P. Taylor; Observer 'A masterpiece' The New York Times 'Compellingly told ... Alastair Horne uses contemporary accounts from both sides to build up a picture of heroism; mistakes; even farce' Sunday Telegraph 'Brilliantly written ... very readable; almost like a historical novel - except that it is true' Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery One of Britain's greatest historians; Sir Alistair Horne; CBE; is the author of a trilogy on the rivalry between France and Germany; The Price of Glory; The Fall of Paris and To Lose a Battle; as well as a two-volume life of Harold Macmillan.
#712219 in Books Marion Meade 1991-11-01 1991-11-01Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.19 x .92 x 6.16l; 1.01 #File Name: 0140153381416 pagesQUEEN OF FRANCE-12TH CENTURY. A VILLIFIED; IGNORED; ADMIRED WOMAN WHO CHANGED THE COURSE OF HISTORY.
Review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Marion Meade brings Eleanor back to Life!By Sany123I am almost finished reading this biography; and I have truly enjoyed it. Unlike other authors who actually write historical biographies versus historical fiction; the author; Marion Meade; actually makes Eleanor come to life; using what little researched facts available to her. Most other biographical authors of medieval women; because so little is documented about even famous women of those days; make the person seem so flat and impersonal. Ms. Meade actually brings Eleanor to life without adding fictional components. I will read more from this author in the future.38 of 41 people found the following review helpful. An excellent biography ...By oamazAlthough I have been acquainted with a turbulent life of this amasing woman in fits and starts by reading different other historical books (fiction and non-fiction); by far this book surpasses them in richness of detailes and thorough approach. Account of Eleanor's life starts with her ancestors; follows her happy cloudless childhood; sudden marriage to King Louis of France; her relations in this ill-matched union; participation in crusade; divorce; dazzling marriage to Henry II Plantagenet; her genious of administration and support of chivalry culture; birth of numerous "eaglets" and accounts of their lives; describes the cooling down of matrimonial passion; exile; return to glory with the rule of Richard the Lion Heart and disentegration of vast Plantagenet domains at John Lackland's rule after Eleanor's death. It is not a dry account of facts; but engrossing multicolored mosaic of names; feelings; deeds; customs and reasons. In her times a woman could be noted either by being a saint or too scandalous: Eleanor was neither; but worth while being remembered after 800 years. Although I must add that one can feel at once that the author is a woman and that the book was written in the 70s; when feministic movement was in its height and we just started to re-discover anew the role of women in history. However; now; 20 years later; after reading this book; no one would disagree; that the author overpraised her heroine - Eleanor of Aquitaine well deserves remembrance and admiration.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. UghBy PeggyNothing compare to Amy Kelly. Too densely written.
