Ten Days in August

A complete and accurate picture of the seige of Liege, using both Belgian and German sources

In August 1914 the German main attack was conducted by the 2nd Army. It had the missions of taking the vital fortresses of Liege and Namur, and then defeating the Anglo-French-Belgian forces in the open plains of northern Belgium. The German attack on the Belgian fortress at Liege had tremendous political and military importance. Nevertheless, there has never been a complete account of the siege. The German and Belgian sources are fragmentary and biased. The short descriptions in English are general, use a few Belgian sources, and are filled with inaccuracies. Making use of both German and Belgian sources, this book for the first time describes and evaluates the construction of the fortress, its military purpose, the German plan, and the conduct of the German attack. Previous accounts emphasize the importance of the huge German "Big Bertha" cannon, to the virtual exclusion of everything else: the Siege of Liege shows that the effect of this gun was a myth, and shows how the Germans really took the fortress.