Arguing that the military reputation of British Generals in World War I has not been examined critically enough, this text asks how those responsible for catastrophic defeats were able to retain their command.

Laffin draws on the memories and writings of those who took part and quotes the judgements of other military historians to provide an analysis of just what went wrong in the generals' leadership, and how it resulted in such appalling and tragic losses - and concludes that they were not merely incompetent but uncaring.

Persistent, troubling questions
the butcher's bill - samples
dedicated futility - "bloody balls-up"
Gallipoli fiasco - "singularly brainless warfare"
townshend of Kut - "futile, expensive disaster"
Haig and the Somme - one day, 20,000 dead
Haig, Haking and Gough - "incompetence, callousness and vanity"
Haig and the H.C.I. fixation - "something to answer for"
carnage at Passchendaele - "this senseless and bloody struggle"
triumph at Cambrai - disaster at Cambrai
German breakthroughs - a better way to attack
"Master of the Field" - "a confession of impotency"
who won? - what else?
what the soldiers say - "just one long degradation".