Foreword to the Routledge Classics Edition Bertrand Taithe
Introduction
1. The Antagonists
2. The Outbreak
3. The First Disasters
4. The Army of the Rhine
5. The Army of Châlons
6. The Government of National Defence
7. Metz and Strasbourg
8. The Battle for Orléans
9. The Siege of Paris
10. Guerre à Outrance
11. The Peace.
Notes on Sources
Select Bibliography
Index
Biography
Michael Howard (1922-2019) was a British military historian and formerly Chichele Professor of the History of War, Honorary Fellow of All Souls College, and Regius Professor of Modern History at Oxford University. He was also Robert A. Lovett Professor of Military and Naval History at Yale University, and the founder of the Department of War Studies at King's College, London. He co-founded the International Institute for Strategic Studies in 1958. The author of many highly regarded books Howard was described in the Financial Times as "Britain's greatest living historian", and by The Guardian as "Britain's foremost expert on conflict".
'No outline can suggest the richness of detail and significance, or the superb command of language with which he invests his chronicle. His book is a masterpiece.' - Sunday Times
'The most influential British military historian of his generation.' - The Guardian
'...an eminent military historian and decorated combat veteran who helped redefine the chronicling of conflict between states.' - The New York Times
'Teachers who have sought a history of the war of 1870-71 to recommend to their students will share my satisfaction on reading Michael Howard’s. The general reader interested in one of the epoch-making events of modern history will find it of equal value.' - Lawrence D. Steefel, The Journal of Modern History
'Michael Howard has analysed the origins and the events of this great war with thoroughness, clarity, and high narrative skill.' - The Times
