The battle for Ypres in 1914 represented the last opportunity for open, mobile warfare on the Western Front for the next four years. It was an end of innocence, marking the transition between war as it had been and war as it would become. This book aims to reappraise the conduct of the battle, its significance and its legacy.

CONTENTSAcknowledgementsMapsIllustrationsAbbreviationsIntroduction1. The Belgian option and the race to the sea2. Four armies in Flanders Fields3. Advance to contact4. Kindermord5. The South6. Army Group Fabeck7. NonnebosschenConclusion: The immortal salientAppendix: Orders of battleBibliographyIndex

'Thorough and scholarly' Professor Sir Michael Howard in Times Literary Supplement A first rate work by one of the leading specialists on the First World War' Professor Jeremy Black in History 'Should become the standard scholarly account of First Ypres' Dr Nik Gardner in Journal of Military History 'A valuable addition to the growing library of scholarly studies of the British Army's experience on the Western Front'Professor Peter Simkins in English Historical Review 'The scholarship of the work is massively apparent on every page' Society of Friends of the National Army Museum Newsletter 'Gripping, pulse-quickening detail' Worcester Evening News