Another book report for Gus’ Gear as I have run out of gear to post. This page is hosted by Col (ret) Joseph Robinson, who along with COL (ret) Janet Robinson and Randal Gilbert, has authored several books on the history of Imperial Germany. Last week, Col Joe posted a report on the great book “Handbook of Imperial Germany” and touched on its sequel “Great War Dawning.” This week I want to call your attention to the book “Handstreich!: The Disastrous German Sneak Attack on Liège.”
Most of my life, I was under the impression that the Imperial German military was a well organized force that must have had numerous unpredictable hurdles during the Great war. But the book “Handstreich!: The Disastrous German Sneak Attack on Liège” paints a very different picture. In my opinion, Germany lost the war on the first day, by sending poorly trained and poorly lead troops into Belgium. The German command believed that they could not fail, and because of that, they did not plan for any contingencies that might arise. Belgium had a very small army and in theory should have been easy to defeat, but there were no plans for the eventuality of a strong resistance to the invasion.
This book takes the reader right into the action, and the outcome is inconceivable.