Balkan Breakthrough: The Battle of Dobro Pole 1918 (Twentieth-Century Battles) Review

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(More customer reviews)The story of a little-known battle of a little known front of World War I. The Macedonian front doesn't get a lot of ink in English speaking countries (or elsewhere, I'd wager) but this is a readable and thorough account of that front's final battle, written from the point of view of the main Central Power's protagonist there: the Bulgarians. A worthwhile read for anyone with an interest in WWI, if only for the subject's obscurity. The book is actually well-written and provides the whole context to the First World War in the Balkans.
The book gets 3 stars from me for 2 reasons. It certainly could have used a good editor. In fact, some of the sentences are so mangled that one has to wonder if the author's first language is English. Additionally, the maps suffer in quality and quantity. Dozens of places are mentioned in the text that don't appear on any map. The maps themselves have little detail and aren't terribly helpful to the reader who is trying to follow the campaigns. The author should have been aware that most readers aren't familiar with southern Balkan geography.

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With the transfer of German units to the western front in the spring of1918, the position of the Central Powers on the Macedonian front worsened. Materielbecame scarce and morale among the Bulgarian forces deteriorated. The EntenteCommand perceived in Macedonia an excellent opportunity to apply additional pressureto the Germans, who were already retreating on the western front. In September,Entente forces undertook an offensive directed primarily at Bulgarian defenses atDobro Pole. Balkan Breakthrough tells the story of that battle and its consequences.Dobro Pole was the catalyst for the collapse of the Central Powers and the Ententevictory in southeastern Europe -- a defeat that helped persuade the German militaryleadership that the war was lost. While decisive in ending World War I in theregion, the battle did not resolve the underlying national issues there.

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