THE EASTERN FRONT

A respected military historian examines the unknown battlegrounds of a crucial conflict.

Even after a century, the bloody, mud-soaked images of World War I are deeply ingrained in the public consciousness. However, that is only one part of a larger picture, according to veteran WWI historian Lloyd, author of The Amritsar Massacre, Hundred Days, and Passchendaele. In Eastern Europe, there was a very different war. This book is the second part of a planned trilogy, following The Western Front (2021). Like the previous installment, the author delves deeply into records and correspondence of the time. Though the outbreak of war was triggered by a political assassination, there were deep-seated tensions and ambitions on all sides that had been simmering for years. When Austria-Hungary invaded Serbia, Russia took the opportunity to launch an offensive, and Germany counterattacked. Russia had huge numbers, but Austria-Hungary knew the territory, and Germany had the advantages of aerial reconnaissance and a reliable transport system. This was a war of maneuver and logistics fought across a broad front, with civilians caught in the middle. Lloyd capably lays out the strategies of each side, examining why certain battles were won or lost. A key point was the constant drain of Germany’s men and resources, which fatally weakened its army in the West. The final count in the East, according to Lloyd, was 16 million soldiers dead and 2 million wounded. Furthermore, the Austrian-Hungarian and Russian empires collapsed, presaging at least a decade of instability. This is an unquestionably compelling story, but Lloyd sometimes becomes bogged in the complexity and details of the narrative. Aficionados of military history will enjoy the book, but general readers may find it heavy going.

With a wealth of research material, Lloyd reveals a different side to the war that would shape the 20th century.