Customer Reviews:
 An exemplar of military history writing March 11, 2007
Dr. Andrew P. Winrow (Middlesex, England)
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
Although this is one of Richard Holmes' earliest works and now re-released, 'Riding the Retreat' remains a unique amalgam of travel book and military history of the most enjoyable, if somewhat quirky, type. As a detailed view of the opening moves of August and September 1914, I can only praise this book. Both strategy and more detailed anecdotes are supported by snippets of archival material that may already be familiar to those who are devotees of Richard Holmes' other books. The nature of the BEF, its social structure and the individual battles are brought to life as Holmes and his companions explore the battlefields in a way as never before. But what is different is the often humourous stories of this, Professor Holmes' equestrian adventure with colleagues, covering the countryside in Belgium and France of the BEF's retreat. Details of saddle soreness, riding through fields and forests and the antics of his own horse jostle with a personal narrative that would grace any travelogue.
Professor Holmes' passion for the ordinary soldier comes to the fore as well as his respect for those coping with a conflict that was outside of all of their expectations. Admittedly I am a fan of Professor Holmes and his writing however I would personally recommend this as his finest work to date and, for me, this is the definitive history of those first weeks from the BEF's perspective.
Thoroughly recommended.
Richard Holmes' passion for history is without equal September 19, 1999
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
A spectacular book. It takes the form of a travelogue about Holmes' own journey retracing the steps of the BEF (as the 1914 army was called) From preparing to go to France to the retreat from Mons. This book displays Holmes' total command of both historical fact and story telling. At no time does he become more important that his subject matter (so rare in travel writing), as he skilfully unravels what it must have been like to go to war in 1914, using diaries, letters and regimental biographies as well as first hand experiences, eighty years on. It is an absolutely riveting read.
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