general hermann von stein

Includes the First World War Illustrations Pack – 73 battle plans and diagrams and 198 photos

Even before the advent of the First World War, General Der Artillerie Hermann Von Stein, had had a long and distinguished career in the Prussian Army stretching back to 1873. He served in various artillery and staff posts and rubbed shoulders with the heads of the General Staff such as Von Schlieffen, both Von Moltkes and Von Waldersee (of whom he includes portraits in this volume). In 1914 he was appointed to the 14th Reserve Corps which advanced with 2nd Army as part of the right hook through northern France before being bogged down in the stalemate of the trenches of the Western Front. He and his men were those who stubbornly defended Thiepval during the bloody battle of the Somme in 1916. After his successful field commands he was appointed War Minister for Prussia, a post that he held until the end of the war. His reminiscences offer a little seen view of the German High Command during the First World War.