Mud Blood and Poppycock

[DerekJ]

It being Armistice Day today I thought it a suitable time to post on a book that I'm currently nearing the end of.  Mud Blood and Poppycock by Major Gordon Corrigan.

This was first published back in 2003 but I've only just come across it. 

It sets out to re-examine what Corrigan considers are myths about the British Army during WWI .... incompetence, unnecessary slaughter, among many others. It's a good read and gives a different perspective on the war. I'm not convinced by all of his arguements and it is clearly written by a man with a strong military background who views the war very much as a soldier (he was a Gurkha Rifles officer).

Apart from this revisionist view of the war he does explain a lot of the basics very well... command structure, trench construction, trench rotas etc. At times he tends to throw out a lot of statistics but this doesn't get in the way too much and at times is very relevant.

If you are interested in WWI you may find it interesting.