Summary Of The Donkeys By Alan Clark

As the 1960’s came along it had marked the 50th anniversary since the first world war had begun. The 1960’s was also an unsettling decade of “a period of social change, of the questioning of traditional values and mores” therefore with these two factors combined it would guarantee that the revival of first world war arguments and they way that it was perceived. It would be carried out like this in such a way that the modern day perception of not only World War One, but also the reputation of the generals.

The 1960’s was an era that was during the peak of the cold war. There was continuous fear of Nuclear Warfare between the Eastern Bloc and the Westerns Bloc. The 60’s were also a time of anti-vietnam protests and pacifism which was certain to have resurrected the anti-war opinions
One of the most powerful pieces was a book written by Alan Clark called ‘The Donkeys’. Alan Clark’s book became “the final epitaph of those who commanded the British Expeditionary Force”, through its title ‘The Donkeys’. The book reveals how the ‘lions’, British Expeditionary Force, were called upon the impossible when ordered by the coward generals, to go ‘over the top’ and eventually being sent to their deathbeds. The book focuses of the cowardless of the world war one generals, in the opening pages the book quotes “...the story of the destruction of an army – the old professional army of the United Kingdom… machine-gunned, gassed and nally buried in 1915”. Alarn Clark’s view on the generals was of course negative. He viewed the generals as “‘grossly incompetent for the tasks which they had to discharge and that Haig, in particular, was an unhappy combination of ambition, obstinacy and megalomania”. Clark’s attack,per se, was trying to say that the soldiers were fighting it was not war, it was murder. The book, ended up selling very successfully and shaped the modern view of Haig being a