''A timely re-appraisal . . . a masterpiece'' General Lord Richard Dannatt

''Sweeps aside mythology and provides a rational explanation and cool description of what took place'' Max Hastings, Sunday Times

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Between July and November 1917, in a small corner of Belgium, more than 500,000 men were killed or maimed, gassed or drowned - and many of the bodies were never found. The Ypres offensive represents the modern impression of the First World War: splintered trees, water-filled craters, muddy shell-holes.

The climax was one of the worst battles of both world wars: Passchendaele. The village fell eventually, only for the whole offensive to be called off. But, as Nick Lloyd shows, notably through previously unexamined German documents, it put the Allies nearer to a major turning point in the war than we have ever imagined.

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''Meticulously researched . . . A harrowing and important history'' PD Smith, Guardian

''He brings the battle and its political context vividly to life . . . a model of what a work of military history should be, this is now perhaps the definitive account of this phase of the war on the Western Front'' Simon Heffer, Telegraph