"The German Army at Ypres 1914" covers a lesser-known episode of the First World War's initial six months, one that closes out what many military historians call "The Race to the Sea". Once the Germans failed to defeat the French on the Marne in the late summer of 1914, a subsequent sequence of battles saw the combatants desperately seeking an open flank towards the Franco-Belgian coast of the English Channel. Jack Sheldon's work picks up this story as the new German Minister of War, Erich von Falkenhyn, attempted to salvage German hopes of a quick and decisive victory by inserting the new Fourth Army into the battle in Belgian Flanders before the Allies' defenses firmed up.

At 483 pages in my Kindle edition, "The German Army at Ypres" is not lightweight reading. Published by Pen and Sword in 2010, the book encompasses a forward, introduction, author's note, acknowledgments, prologue, eight numbered chapters, a postscript, an appendix comparing German and British Army ranks, a bibliography, and an index. Unacknowledged in the contents is a small selection of photographs between Chapters 3 and 4. There is a selection of annotated maps, which are critical to Sheldon's presentation of this story. The operations detailed in the book are confined to the area from Diksmuide in the north to Ploegsteert in the south, a pretty small section of what will become the Western Front. The book is arranged chronologically, with the author jumping from one segment of the battlefield to the next as German offensive operations unfolded. Not only are the geographic distances short; the action in the book takes place between 14 October and 11 November 1914.

As the battle developed geographically, Sheldon lays out his chapters accordingly. The first two chapters set the stage from the beginning of the war to the German march to the Yser River in Belgium. Chapter 3 discusses the epic German failure at Langemarck (the current site of one of the largest German WWI cemeteries), while Chapter 4 tells of the battles around the villages of Beselare, Geluveld, and the Menen Road. Chapter 5 details the fighting around Diksmuide, while Chapter 6 tells of the battles south of Ypres. Chapter 7 covers a second round of fruitless fighting around Langemarck, while Chapter 8 illustrates the end of Germany's offensive plans in the West during the final 1914 fighting for the Menen Road.

Sheldon lays out each of the main chapters in the same fashion: a general discussion about the section of the subject section of the battlefield, followed by the annotated map, followed by the personal accounts of the participants uncovered by the author's diligent research. The annotated map bears numbers that Sheldon uses to organize the participant/eyewitness accounts, which number five or more per chapter. These accounts are the heart of this book as they provide the details glossed over in more conventional histories. The reader gets some idea of what is was like to attack through the inundated farmland deliberately flooded by the Belgiums desperate to deny the countryside to the Germans, to live a miserable existence with sleep and eating impossible under the conditions, and to advance under a barrage of shrapnel shells.

Sheldon makes it clear to his reader of the flaws in some of his sources. Some memoirs and regimental histories came out after the rise of Nazism, and their stories were embellished to enhance the Nazi cause. Sheldon also addresses the "Kindermoerder" or slaughter of the students attributed to the attacks on Langemarck, another case where elements of truth were altered to fire up the zeal of potential German military and paramilitary recruits.

This book is not for the faint of heart. It is incredibly detailed and can be a slog at times. I found myself scrolling back and forth between maps and texts to understand the personal accounts Sheldon laid before me. However, a World War I historian should not pass on this treasure trove of German source material and Sheldon's thoughtful analysis of it. ( )