"Jim, Hastings maintains, based on research, that our soldiers knew exactly what they were fighting for."
He mentions one soldier - his claim is not backed up by any facts which dispute the reality of the disillusionment
Nor does he deal with the bullying and intimidatory techniques of recruiting.
Nor does he in any way attempt to dismantle the the destructive effect the war had on the survivors.
Nor does he contradict in any way the Imperial nature of the war - that is now accepted history.
You said it all:
"He places the blame firmly on Germany."
His is a military journalist and writer - that is his specialty, and as the reviewer pointed out, that is the weakness of his book.
It was an imperial war, whatever the propagandists claimned at the time, Imperialism was tantamount to slavery - Belgium was among the worst offenders - as I said, go read a book.
"Maybe it's time this thread was accurately labelled"
Or maybe it's time some participants started to debate rather than attempting to score points
Jim Carroll