Five Days From Defeat: How Britain Nearly Lost the First World War

By Walter Reid

On 21 March 1918 Germany initiated one of the most ferocious and offensives of the First World War. During the so-called Kaiserschlacht, German troops advanced on allied positions in a series of ferocious attacks which caused massive casualties, separated British and French forces and drove the British back towards the Channel ports.


Five days later, as the German advance continued, one of the most dramatic summits of the war took place in Doullens. The outcome was to have extraordinary consequences. For the first time an allied supreme commander – the French General Foch – was appointed to command all the allied armies, while the statesmen realized that unity of purpose rather than national interest was ultimately the key to success. Within a few months a policy of defence became one of offence, and paved the way for British success at Amiens and the series of unbroken British victories that led Germany to plea for armistice.


Victory in November 1918 was a matter for celebration; what was excised from history was how close Britain was to ignominious defeat just eight months earlier.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Birlinn
• Release date: Nov 2, 2017
• ISBN: 9780857909411

Walter Reid

Walter Reid is an historian educated at the Universities of Oxford and Edinburgh, a fellow of the Royal Historical Society, and the author of several acclaimed books on British politics and history, including 'Neville Chamberlain: The Passionate Radical'. He raises sheep and cattle in Scotland and grows olives in France.