Defense analyst and military historian Passingham has a special interest in World War I and in the German armed forces since 1871. Those two interests cross here as he describes German efforts to regain territory it had lost to the allies during 1916 and 1917, and in the process re-opens the debate about the actual events in 1918 on the Western Front and their consequences. He sets the stage by reviewing movements and battles during the last months of 1917, then describes the offensives and defenses by both sides from January through September 1918, and considers the aftermath that he calls a diabolical legacy. Distributed in North America by Casemate. Annotation ©2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)