But on the level of producing a landmark piece of writing, I think Norman Stone falls down. It’s the only account, that’s the point.Īs a technical assembly of facts, it has a lot to offer. But one needs to take with a pinch of salt the blurb claims on the cover to the effect that it’s “the classic account”. But total war needs total history, as far as can be managed.'Īn interesting book, and worth reading for the simple reason that there is still not much material out there on the war in the East. As the author writes: 'the book travelled a long way from the battlefields where it began it may even have become three different books. The book is carefully documented and there are maps of the campaign. He explains the mechanics of revolutionary development and the downfall of the Tsar and thereby throws new light on our interpretation of the war in the West. Norman Stone never loses sight of his greater themes and places the conflict in a larger context. In his final chapter, the author reviews the connection between war and revolution in Tsarist Russia, and suggests new approaches to our understanding of this complex problem. Their economy suffered a crisis not of decline but of growth as a result capitalism, as Western Europe knew it, was killed off in Russia in 1915-16, not in 1917-18. The Russians suffered from a shortage of organizational and administrative ability. Norman Stone's analysis shows that German economic superiority has been greatly overestimated. Traditional accounts of the Russian war effort describe an army crippled by shortages of shells and war materials.

Tannenberg, Austria-Hungary's entry into the war, the Russian retreat in the summer of 1915, the role of Lundendorff, the Brusilov offensive - all are carefully examined and substantially reinterpreted. Using a wide range of sources from European and American research centers, he describes the battles of the Eastern Front. Norman stone believes that 'the outcome of the battles was dictated by factors that do not always figure in works of military history'.

It was in the East, with Russia in turmoil, that many decisive engagements took place. Churchill called the Eastern Front 'the unknown war' and there is still no Soviet official history of the army's role during the First World War. Norman Stone's important book is the first authoritative account of the Russian Front to be published in the West.

Norman stone the eastern front