Max Hastings

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Mentioned as containing a quote from officer John Horsfall about sensing 'the national mood of defiance which brought down Napoleon and would destroy Hitler too' when troops returned from Dunkirk.

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Max Hastings' book is cited for telling the story of a woman who fights her way into a train carriage with her three children during the evacuation of Przemyśl, only to see her youngest child left behind on the platform.

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Quoted multiple times throughout the episode, including a line about the Austro-Hungarian army's 'principal strength lay in exotic parade uniforms and splendid bands' and descriptions of General Potjorek and the Shuka family's deportation story.

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Referenced multiple times for accounts of battles and characterizations, including the Battle of the Frontiers at Vieton and descriptions of Asquith's wartime management. Hastings calls Sir John French 'a poltroon' and Joffre 'slovenly.'

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Referred to as Max Hastings's 'brilliant book' that describes scenes of German infantry being cut down at Liège and lists numerous examples of German reprisals against Belgian civilians.

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Referenced for presenting Serbian PM Pasic as 'a crafty old Serbian peasant' in his book about this period (title not specified in transcript).

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Reference to 'his memoirs' describing Max Hastings walking into Stanley as the first British person to enter after the Argentine surrender

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Quoted extensively throughout the episode for details about the Battle of the Marne, including Max Hastings' observation that if Joffre had died on September 1st he would be remembered only as 'a bungler and a butcher,' and his description of Joffre's transformation from 'abattoir superintendent to allied saviour.'

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Andrew Preston mentions Max Hastings' recent book on the Vietnam War, describing it as 'a fantastic book' that argues the US basically made a mistake by taking over the French role in Vietnam in 1954-55.