The damning public opinion that the British generals - most notably Haig, French, Plumer, Gough and Byng - sent hundreds of thousands of young men to their deaths in the trenches of the Western front, is one that hasn't changed in over sixty years.Now, in this explosive new book, Robin Neillands challenges the popular myth about the incompetence and callousness of the Great War generals and examines the events that took place on the Western Front through the eyes of these same officers to explain the circumstances that led them to plan and fight as they did.The death toll on the Western Front provides the main evidence against the generals but Niellands examines many other factors and spreads responsibility far beyond the generals and their staff, asking the questions: Why was Britain so unprepared for a European war in 1914? What role did the British politicians play? What was the truth behind Anglo-French relations? Can the Australians and Canadians really take credit for the great victories of the war? Was the arrival of the American army really decisive? Was any general really equipped with the knowledge and information to deal with the horrors of trench warfare? How much of what we now believe about the Great War is true? This thoroughly researched and controversial book shatters many assumptions about the leadership of the great War and the myth of the Great War generals. It must be read by anyone seeking the real story of the First World War.