With Our Backs to the Wall: Victory and Defeat in 1918 - Hardcover

A magnificent and exhaustive account of the war's final year ... Stevenson has a deserved reputation as one of the world's leading authorities on the war ... Drawing on numerous original sources in French, German, Italian and English, Stevenson displays masterly scholarship and his prose is crisp and vivid throughout ... [With Our Backs to the Wall] promises to be the outstanding military history published in 2011 (Tony Barber Financial Times)

This is a familiar enough story, but it can never have been so authoritatively told as it is here. It is impossible, in fact, to exaggerate how impressive this book is ... A grasp of issues and a mastery of detail that builds into an irrefutable analysis of not just why the war was won and lost, but why both sides were prepared to end it when they did (David Crane The Spectator)

Stevenson brings to his study a formidable authority and mastery of the sources, and judgments that seem admirably measured and nuanced (Max Hastings Sunday Times)

Brilliant and comprehensive ... a major contribution (A. W. Purdue Times Higher Education)

An immensely useful study, emphasising the crucial importance of morale, political stability and trust (Max Egremont Literary Review)

Wide-ranging and clearly argued ... This is, as one would expect from a historian of Stevenson's great learning and analytical power, a masterly study (The Sunday Telegraph)

The strength of the book lies in his ability to weave together astute analysis of the antagonists' abilities and weaknesses ... Told with verve and analytical vigour, Stevenson's book is a compelling and authoritative study of one of the most significant turning points in 20th-century military history (Robert Gerwath The Irish Times)

What David Stevenson achieves is a magisterial single volume synthesis of all the themes to deliver a punchy, incisive reboot of WW1 history that is never a dull read ... In saluting the unsung elements of victory, Stevenson ensures his big themes book is myth-busting in its small detail, too (Warships International Fleet Review)

An outstanding contribution ... Stevenson analyses in great depth and detail the reasons why the Western Allies, having survived in a series of disasters, were able finally to turn the table on the Central Powers, effectively Germany, in 1918 (Frank Ellis Quarterly Review)

A monumental study deserving of a wide readership by scholars and generalists alike (Library Journal)