“On ne passe pas!”
Fought between 21 February to 18 December 1916, the Battle of Verdun took place on the hills north of Verdun-sur-Meuse along the Western Front of World War One. At 302 days, it was the longest battle of WW1 and remains one of the costliest in human history. Estimates have put the total amount of casualties across the entire battle of Verdun at 714,231, equalling roughly 70,000 every single month. Both sides threw everything into the battle, with Verdun becoming a harrowing symbol of the mechanised attrition of the wider war. Remaining one of the final, and most pivotal, sole French victories in history, check out all the best Battle of Verdun books here at What We Reading.
Verdun: The Longest Battle Of The Great War – Paul Jankowski
Historian Paul Jankowski blends together military history with battlefield tactics for one of the best Battle of Verdun books. The book utilises both French and German archives from the battle, delving into the leaders, plans and technology in play to help complete a full picture of what life was like for soldiers in both armies in the heart of the Great War’s longest battle. Crucially, Jankowski concludes how Verdun was much more of an ambiguity than its status deserves. Not the big political or military breakthrough either side was hoping for, Jankowski does a stellar job in highlighting how Verdun spiralled into the mechanised hell of modern warfare.
Walking In The Footsteps Of The Fallen: Verdun 1916 – Christina Holstein
Christina Holstein attempts to pay homage to the losses and devastation inflicted at Verdun in a way that is powerful, striking and eye-opening in Walking In The Footsteps Of The Fallen: Verdun 1916. Whilst an average guide through the forts of Douamont and Vaux, the museum at Fleury, Holstein aims to paint a picture of the true horrors of the fighting by giving readers four tours aimed at taking them through some of the lesser-known spots from the battle. Making use of field graves and isolated memorials, Walking In the Footsteps of the Fallen is the ultimate Verdun book for putting the spotlight back on the individuals.
The Battle Of Verdun – Alan Axelrod
For German Army Chief of Staff Erich von Falkenhayn, Verdun represented the prime opportunity of bringing about the end of the Great War. For the French Army, defeat at the historic fortress almost certainly would have led to total collapse. In one of the best Battle of Verdun books for understanding the stakes in play for one of World War One’s bloodiest battles, Alan Axelrod’s 2016 works remain one of the most invaluable reads. From understanding the goals and intricacies of the battle to its ramifications ranging from the Battle of the Somme to how its barbarity helped prompt American entry into the war, Axelrod does a great job of tying it all together here.
German Strategy And The Path To Verdun: Erich Von Falkenhayn And The Development Of Attrition, 1870-1916 – Robert Thomas Foley
Released to coincide with the 90th anniversary of the battle’s conclusion, Germany Strategy and the Path to Verdun is Robert Thomas Foley’s exploration into the methods and thinking of Erich von Falkenhayn that led up to the epic scale of Verdun. Utilising previously classified information only handed back to Germany following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Foley expertly paints Falkenhayn’s overall strategy for World War One, and how German tactical and operational concepts led to the infamous war of attrition on the Western Front. Running from the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71 to Verdun, it is a sweeping resource that helps put context into one of the bloodiest battles of attrition the world has ever seen.
The Fortifications of Verdun 1874–1917 – Clayton Donnell
The forts of Douaumont and Vaux served to protect the key French city of Verdun, with both growing to symbolise not only the battle contested between their borders, but the entire struggle of the French to regain their land from Germany during WW1. Across 64 pages, Clayton Donnell and Brian Delf utilise detailed imagery and expert insight to bring these historical fortifications to life and explore the brutal fighting they housed during the nearly-year-long Battle of Verdun. The Fortifications of Verdun remains one of the best historical resources for mapping how the fortifications were formed and evolved, how these changes impacted the Battle of Verdun, and how they became visceral symbols of patriotism and struggle for the French.
Verdun 1916: The Renaissance of the Fortress
In Verdun 1916, authors H.W. Kaufmann and J.E. Kaufmann explore the intricacies of the German plan behind the Battle of Verdun, how it went wrong, as well as how the battle profoundly shaped French military theory in the years after its conclusion. The book explains how Germany specifically chose Verdun due to its supposed strength, how this strength was a total illusion, and why exactly the Germans were still unable to capture it. A compelling deep dive into how methodical warfare came to dominate French thinking and how fortress construction would later influence projects such as the Maginot Line, Verdun 1916 is one of the best books for understanding the significance of the Battle of Verdun.
The Verdun Regiment: Into the Furnace: The 151st Infantry Regiment in the Battle of Verdun 1916 – Johnathan Bracken
Author Johnathan Bracken attempts to put the scale and losses of the French forces in WW1 into context through a compelling narrative of the lives of the 151st Infantry Regiment during the Battle of Verdun. Meticulously researched and vivid in its detailed descriptions, the memoirs and diary entries perfectly capture the atrocities of being in the heart of the artillery meat-grinder Verdun would become. The Regiment would endure fifty days of near non-stop fire during 1916, and Bracken’s writing powerfully whisks readers right into the heart of the action to bring to life the horrors of the First World War.
Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
