The Mons Myth (The History Press, February 2010)

Historians have maintained for nearly a century that at Mons and Le Cateau the British infantry delivered stinging blows to the German Army. The Germans, they said, massively outnumbered the British, but attacked in solid blocks and were mown down in rows by British rifle fire, which was so rapid that the Germans took it to be machine-gun fire. Even though the British were driven from their positions, the Germans suffered severe casualties.

Making unprecedented use of both German and British sources, The Mons Myth shows that the British were not outnumbered, that the British seriously overrated the effectiveness of rifle fire, and that the German casualties were far fewer than the British thought.

In reality, Mons and Le Cateau demonstrated the combat power of the German army in the combined-arms attack, with the German infantry effectively supported by artillery and cavalry, even against an opponent as formidable as the professional British Army.