So I'm hacking away at this and it's slow going. Looking at the pageviews of the earlier posts in the series it doesn't seem to be attracting much interest, either; couple of hundred views, tops, for the first one, less for the followups.
Is it worth continuing?
And if so, is it worth going into the granular detail that I've been putting into the earlier pieces?
I'm not averse to pushing on, but I'm also not enthusiastic about putting time into a time-consuming effort if there's little interest in it. I can find other topics to write about.
Let me know in the comments if anyone has strong opinions one way or another.
If I don't get any? That'll tell me a lot right there...
9 comments:
I'm reading it. I'm reading everything you post even if I don't say anything (because what can I say to comfort you? your country's pretty fucked)
I also have been reading it, and loving it, and commenting whenever I feel like I have something constructive to add (though my last attempt got eaten somehow, and I didn't have the brain juice to type it all again). So I for one hope you will continue - unless, of course, it's not worth the psychic damage it's causing you (I also run a blog and I know sometimes it feels like giving birth to gravel). So I look forward to you finishing it, but if the juice isn't worth the squeeze, then I wouldn't blame you for putting it on the backburner or just leaving it entirely. You don't owe us a single thing.
I'm reading it too with great interest as you have another focus than historians on the subject - unravelling the Military situation from a military point of view. Please keep going. :)
Back again from 4/25/2025 11:54:18 PM - I've been trying for more than a year to post comments on the block but haven't had any go through. Don't know if problem was on my part or block-settings preventing me to do so. Might have prevented other from doing so./Carsten
I'd like to see it. The Battle of the Frontiers isn't something I see very much written about, even in books by military historians that concentrate on WW I. John Keegan devotes half a chapter to it in "The First World War", which puts him half a chapter above just about everyone else. And even Keegan's account doesn't get as granular as your's.
I'm not the first person to say this: you really ought to think about collecting your essays and getting them published. Honestly, you do a better job of scholarship than half of the military historians in my library.
You might try and run down Terence Zuber's "Ardennes 1914"; I'm leaning on it heavily for the Frontiers posts. Good reference for the most critical engagements in August. A subset of that is a work by someone name Steg called "Death in the Ardennes: 22nd August 1914" which zooms in on the "Colonial Corps". You're correct that in general histories the Frontiers tends to get glossed over to get to the Marne, but there is good work out there.
I, a random Englishman who subscribes to this blog, was enjoying the series and should certainly read another entry.
For what that is worth :-)
I'm reading it, but I think you should write books, not blog posts! The quality of your writing and research is frank and excellent. A book would not take much more effort, and e-publication means you don't have a garage full of expensive unsold and remaindered copies (and it's always in print, and able to revise).
The problem would be the graphics. I'd have to either come up with a way to do them all myself or pay someone. For the blog I just troll the Internet and steal what I like. Some are public domain, but many are not, and I'd run into trouble using them for profit.
I'm not ruling that out, mind. But it seems from the outside like a LOT of work.
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